April Homes Sales and Prices in Wisconsin Continue Healthy Growth

Wisconsin REALTORS® Association (WRA), 2013 April Home Sales Report, May 20, 2013
Wisconsin existing home sales jumped 9.2 percent in April 2013 compared to April 2012, representing 22 straight months of positive sales growth in the state. Median prices climbed by a solid margin, growing 7.8 percent over the past year to $138,000, according to the most recent statistical report released by the Wisconsin REALTORS® Association (WRA).
"This is a solid but sustainable pace of sales," said Renny Diedrich, chairman of the WRA board of directors. This continues the modest growth established in the first quarter of the year nationally in which sales were up 9.8 percent, as well as for Wisconsin, where revised figures show that sales rose 11.7 percent compared to first quarter of 2012. "It looks like the first quarter trends are continuing into the prime selling period of the year, which is very encouraging," Diedrich said, noting that in a typical year, about 60 percent of Wisconsin home sales take place between April and September.
Five of the state's six regions experienced positive growth in sales, with two regions up in the neighborhood of 20 percent. Median prices increased 7.8 percent in April compared to April 2012, after rising 9.3 percent in March, again compared to the same month in 2012. "We're seeing strong upward price pressure statewide and across all regions," said Michael Theo, WRA President and CEO, who pointed to a number of factors on both the demand and supply sides of the market. "On the supply side, unsold inventory has fallen by more than 9,000 homes over the last year, and on the demand side, very favorable mortgage rates have gotten some buyers off the fence and into the market over the last few months," said Theo. He also suspects that the tight inventory of entry-level homes is helping to fuel the upper end of the market. "We've been hearing from REALTORS® that trade-up buyers are having very little problem selling their existing homes, which helps explain why higher-end homes are moving more quickly than they have in the past," he said.
Despite increasing prices, housing in the state remains very affordable. "We're still quite a bit more affordable than the national level, but affordability will slip if prices and mortgage rates rise" said Theo. "This is the time to enlist the help of an experienced REALTOR® to get the most value out of a market that is clearly heating up," he said.

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