Home sales in the four-county metro Milwaukee area continue to exceed last year’s pace, in April posting the fourth month in a row of year-over-year sales increases, according to the latest report from the
Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors.
Home sales in the metro Milwaukee area were up 17.9% in April, year-over-year, to 1,462 and were up 16.2% in the greater seven-county southeastern Wisconsin region.
Here’s a breakdown of home sales, and year-over-year change, by county:
- Walworth: 136, +41.7%
- Washington: 143, +37.5%
- Milwaukee: 881, +23.2%
- Kenosha: 140, +6.9%
- Waukesha: 358, +5.3%
- Ozaukee: 80, -1.2%
- Racine: 162, -3.6%
Listings of homes for sale are also on the rise, with a 17.3% increase in the four-county metro area and an 18.6% increase in the greater seven-county region. Milwaukee County had the most homes listed for sale in April at 1,115, up 14.8%, and the biggest increase in listings was in Kenosha, with a year-over-year increase of 26.3%.
“There is a considerable amount of pent-up buyer demand,” the GMAR report states. “So, when listings increased buyers absorbed them, resulting in an increase in overall sales.”
Home sale prices in the metro Milwaukee area were up 3.5% in April, year-over-year, according to GMAR.
GMAR’s reports have said for some time that there are not enough homes available on the market to meet demand. The rise in interest rates to combat inflation have discouraged many homeowners from selling their homes because they would need to borrow at a higher interest rate to purchase another home.
“Often if listings increase prices will moderate because buyers have more options, however, we are still living in an extremely low listing environment, which is why prices rose 3.5% in April,” the GMAR report states. “The increase in listings released some of the demand pressure in the market, like pushing the valve stem on an overinflated tire. But the market is still in desperate need of more listings. In fact, the metropolitan (Milwaukee) market would need an additional 4,625 listings in order to achieve a balanced market.”
GMAR also continues to say that more new home construction is needed to meet market demand.
“Not only are a lack of listings for existing homes a cause of price pressure, but a lack of new construction is a chronic problem that has endured for years,” the GMAR report states. “However, there's a glimmer of hope in the new construction sector. Through March, 460 new construction permits were taken out in the four-county area, 75.2% above the same period in 2023, good news but well below the production level needed to meet demand. New construction would normally add 3,000 - 4,000 units to the market annually, but that market segment has been down by about 50% since the Great Recession.”
Single family home construction in Milwaukee County surged during the first quarter of 2024, posting a 164.4% increase in building permits compared to the first quarter of 2024,
according to the latest report from the Wisconsin Builders Association.
