The market is tight, and prices continue to inch up.
That assessment from Wisconsin Realtors Association when looking at August numbers, which are the most recent. Wisconsin home sales fell by a modest margin even as median prices moved up sharply in August.
Existing home sales fell 2 percent compared to August 2018, while median prices rose 9.0 percent over that same period to $206,000.
Economist David Clark works with the association.
Especially in urban areas, the shortage of listings is fueling higher prices...
"...That's really what has been pushing up our prices and constraining our sales is the tight supply even as demand continues to be relatively strong..."
He says the low unemployment rates builds a demand for housing. Clark says mortgage rates are falling to around 3.6 percent, making housing more affordable.
In the Northwoods, prices rose 3. 6 percent while sales slipped 2 percent from a year ago. On a year-to-date basis, the picture is similar. Comparing the first eight months of 2019 to the first eight months of 2018, home sales dropped 3.2 while prices rose 7.6 percent to $199,000.
