The number of home sales in Wisconsin was up 20.3 percent in August compared to August of 2011, according to the Wisconsin Realtors Association.
Median prices in the state rose 2.9 percent during the month to $144,000.
“It’s clear that in spite of slight upticks in the state unemployment rate over the last two months, the housing market continues to grow, and it’s growing at a brisk pace,” said WRA president and chief executive officer Michael Theo.
The inventory of homes on the market in the state has been in the 60,000 to 62,000 range since April, according to the WRA, down from a peak of 72,000 homes on the market in August of 2010.
“We have over a year of available inventory (time it would take to sell all of the homes currently on the market), which is one of the things that has kept prices from rising more quickly given the strong growth in sales over the past 14 months,” Theo said. “We are currently seeing an average of about 9.6 months of inventory for our metropolitan counties compared to an overall statewide average of 12.5 months, which means the urban markets are liquidating their inventories more rapidly.”
In southeastern Wisconsin, home sales were up 17.7 percent in August to 2,265 and median prices were up 1.9 percent to $154,000.
August home sale prices by county:
– Racine, $114,900, up 11.6 percent
– Ozaukee, $235,000, up 8.5 percent
– Waukesha, $240,000, up 6.7 percent
– Sheboygan, $114,500, up 4.1 percent
– Milwaukee, $110,000, down 4.8 percent
– Walworth, $151,000, down 5.6 percent
– Washington, $177,500, down 9.0 percent
– Kenosha, $117,500, down 11.0 percent
