The nearly 2,200 Milwaukee-area homes sold in September were the second most ever recorded for the month by the Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors.
The other September that performed better, of course, was September of 2020. This was amid a robust recovery from a coronavirus pandemic-fueled spring slump that led to a
banner year for the local housing market.
GMAR notes the market has had another robust year so far, despite the 4.2% sales drop in September 2021 from September 2020. The third quarter also saw a slight decline of 2.5% over 2020's numbers. However, home sales through the first nine months were up in metropolitan Milwaukee by 8.9%. The metro area includes the four counties of Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington and Waukesha.
The southeastern region, which also includes Kenosha, Racine and Walworth counties, saw a sales decline of 4.4% in September and 3.6% in the third quarter.
The market did not get any relief from its longstanding tight inventories. Listings in metro Milwaukee were down 2.5% for the second month in a row in September versus 2020. However, they have been on a general upward trend. Listings were up 8.3% this year through the third quarter.
There were only enough available homes on the market to satisfy three months of demand (the time it would take to sell all of the homes on the market at a given time). When subtracting homes with an offer, that number dropped to 1.3 months.
Home prices have been rising as a result of the lack of supply. Prices were up 12.7% through the third quarter in the metro area, and up 12.9% for the southeastern region.
