Home sales in the four-county metro Milwaukee area were down about 33% in January, year-over-year, according to the latest report from the
Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors.
For the seven-county southeastern Wisconsin area, home sales in January were down 31.5%, year-over-year.
Here’s the breakdown by county, including homes sold there in January and year-over-year change:
- Walworth: 75, -18.5%
- Ozaukee: 59, -19.2%
- Waukesha: 201, -20.2%
- Kenosha: 99, -27.7%
- Racine: 114, -32.1%
- Milwaukee: 490, -34%
- Washington: 47, -61.2%
Year-over-year home sales in the region will be down during the first half of this year because the first half of 2022 was still boosted by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to GMAR.
“That period was an unusually intense time marketed by record sales,” the GMAR report states. “Any comparison to that stretch will most likely be down.”
In addition, rising interest rates have slowed demand from home buyers, the report states.
Despite the slowdown in sales, prices continue to rise for homes sold in the area. According to GMAR, average home sale prices in the Milwaukee area rose 9.5% in January, year-over-year.
The inventory of homes on the market for sale remains low, according to GMAR, contributing heavily to continued rising prices. Listings of homes for sale in the metro Milwaukee area were down 30.2% in January, year-over-year.
As it has in previous reports, GMAR continues to say that there are not enough new homes building built in the area. Its report states the four-county metro area was 7,375 units short of a balanced market in January.
“The metropolitan (Milwaukee) market is contending with a years’ long trend of not creating enough new or existing homes to satisfy buyers’ needs,” the GMAR report states. “The systemic problem with the market is the lack of new construction of single-family houses and condominiums, and over reliance on apartments to satisfy demand. That bottleneck combined with the demographic surge of Millennial and GenZ buyers and good interest rates have all contributed to a historically tight market.”
