Home sales in the four-county metro Milwaukee area were down 17.2% in September, compared to September of 2021, and are down 8.6% through the first three quarters of the year compared to the same period a year ago, according to the latest market report from the Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors.
“Unlike past months when sales were down compared to a record setting 2021, sales were down in September partly in contrast to 2021, but also because of increasing mortgage rates,” said GMAR president Mike Ruzicka. “Being off 8.6% is not concerning given the height of the 2021 market.”
“Brokers are reporting that buyers and sellers are still adjusting to new market dynamics,” Ruzicka said. “Buyers should be cautioned that we have not entered a buyer’s market simply because sales have slowed down. And sellers should not expect 10 offers in 3 days either.”
The supply of homes listed for sale in the metro Milwaukee area is down 13.5% this year, including a 23.8% year-over-year decline in September.
“Listings have declined and given that the market was in an aggressive seller’s market for some time, it is going to take a while to acquire the units necessary to reach any kind of balance, much less a buyer’s market,” Ruzicka said. “There are two significant headwinds to acquiring those needed units. One, there is a whole new generation of households, in the form of Millennials, that want to own a home and are gobbling up anything that is reasonable; and two, we are several years into a dearth of new construction that will plague the market well into the future.”
The sale prices for homes sold in the first three quarters of the year rose 7.8% year-over-year in the four-county metro area and 7.3% in the greater southeastern Wisconsin area. Here’s a look at average home sale prices by county this year:
- Kenosha, $299,862, +9.9%
- Waukesha, $481,903, +9.4%
- Ozaukee, $366,091, +9.2%
- Racine, $272,334, +8.4%
- Milwaukee, $259,334, +6.5%
- Washington, $476,872, +5.9%
- Walworth, $451,976, +3.1%
“The systemic problem with the market is the lack of new construction of single-family houses and condominiums, and over production of apartments,” Ruzicka said. “If the region does not create additional supply in the form of more single-family and condominium units, thousands of would-be homeowners will be forced into rental units, foregoing the opportunity to build wealth through a home’s equity and all of the other benefits of homeownership.”
