Home sales were up slightly in November for the Northern part of the state, according to the Wisconsin Realtors Association. That bucks the trend for the rest of the state, which saw an overall dip in sales for November. Marquette University economist David Clark says median price increases were also high – at over 8 percent in the north.
“It may well be that your typical home as appreciated in value. But it also may mean that the types of homes that sold this year compared to November of last year are somehow qualitatively different. Maybe they’re in more desirable locations, maybe they’re bigger homes.
The year-to-date picture is slightly less rosy…northern home sales and median prices are still up from the year before, but are lagging behind the state as a whole.
“Our growth rate wasn’t quite as high for the first 11 months compared to the state. And the median prices, while they were still up, didn’t go up quite as much as the statewide total.”
Median prices are up 2.6 percent for the northern region, compared to 2012. Sales volume is up almost seven percent.
Clark says the housing rebound may be slowing due to rising interest rates and home prices.
