The number of homes sold in the four county metro Milwaukee area increased only 0.2 percent in February to 865, up from 863 in February of 2014, according to the latest report from the Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors.
However, in Waukesha County home sales were up 16.7 percent in February to 245, compared to 210 in February of 2014.
February home sales were down 4.0 percent in Milwaukee County to 498 and in Washington County home sales for the month were down 15.1 percent to 73.
Home sales in Ozaukee County were up 2.1 percent to 49 for the month.
“February sales are the result of negotiations and contracts signed around the holidays,” said GMAR president Mike Ruzicka. “The fact that the market as a whole was up in February, dramatically in Waukesha County, points to strong footing for the market. Buyers had confidence to purchase in the market during the slowest, coldest months of the year, which portends well as we move into the spring market.”
The number of homes listed for sale in the area was up 8.7 percent in February, but the inventory of homes of sale in the area is tight, according to GMAR. The metro area’s seasonally adjusted inventory level (the time it would take to sell all of the homes on the market at a given time) for February was 6.4 months.
“With the inventory level tight by all measures, the market is in need of more homes for sale to meet current demand,” Ruzicka said. “The increased listings we saw in February will certainly help as those listings become sales in March and April. However, available homes are still below the point brokers would like to see them in order to satisfy buyer demand.”
