Home sales and listings of homes for sales continue to decline, a sign that the area’s housing market remains a buyers market, according to June MLS statistics. In the seven county southeastern Wisconsin area, single family home sales were down 22.6 percent in June, compared to June of 2007. The number of home sales fell from 2,566 in June of 2007 to 1,986 in June of 2008.
Listings of homes for sale in June for the region were down 16.1 percent, from 5,286 in June of 2007 to 4,434 in June of 2006. June was the 11th month in a row that listings have gone down. The buyer’s market has discouraged property owners from putting their homes up for sale, resulting in the decline of inventory available on the market.
"Brokers are reporting that they are getting a lot of calls about properties and scheduling showings, however buyers do not seem to be in any hurry to make an offer on properties they like," said Mike Ruzicka, president of the Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors. "This lack of urgency is concerning, because the combination of historically low interest rates, ample supply of housing and relatively flat prices presents a great value opportunity that buyers will wish they had taken advantage of by the end of the year. We are already seeing signs that could lead to push prices up. Interest rates are starting to fluctuate, and with $4 plus gas overall inflation could be on the horizon. Plus, there is some uncertainty with regard to how the next president will impact the national economy and tax law."
"If this market correction on the supply side continues we may start seeing upward price pressure in early 2009. As we’ve been saying for a few months now, buyers have a great window of opportunity to buy in 2008, and they shouldn’t pass it up."
