Milwaukee area home sales down 45 percent in July

The Milwaukee area housing market remains in a slowdown mode in the wake of the expiration of the federal home buyers tax credit, which expired at the end of April.
July home sales in the four county metro Milwaukee area were down 45.3 percent compared to July of 2009, according to statistics released by Metro MLS Inc. There were 885 home sales in the metro area in July, compared to 1,619 home sales in the area during July of 2009.
"Brokers have been expecting the current slowdown in business in these summer months after the federal tax credits ended on April 30th," said Mike Ruzicka, president of the Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors. "Most reported that accepted ofers slowed down dramatically in May and June but picked up slightly in late July and the first week of August. This means closings recorded by MLS would also decrease, explaining the 45.3 percent decrease in July."
Buoyed by the home buyers tax credit, the metro area’s year-to-date sales are still ahead of the 2009 pace by 2.4 percent. For the first seven months of the year there were 8,042 home sales in the metro area, up from 7,851 in the first seven months of 2009.
"The GMAR expects the decrease in sales to continue into August as buyers take their time getting back into the market," Ruzicka said. "Statistically speaking, the decrease in sales will probably continue through the rest of the year, because sales in the remaining months of 2010 will probably be fewer than during the third and fourth quarters of 2009, that were fuled by the first-time buyer tax credit. For the rest of the year, as long as the economy continues to stabilize, the market conditions that are present in southeastern Wisconsin should be respectable for home sellers, but it will remain a buyers market."