The housing market in Wisconsin continues to improve as both existing home sales and median prices were higher in July than in July of 2014, according to the latest report from the Wisconsin Realtors Association.
Existing home sales increased 16.9 percent in July 2015 compared to July 2014, and median prices rose 3.8 percent to $163,999 during that same time frame.
“Summer is obviously our peak sales period, and it’s encouraging to see a continuation of the strong sales that began in the spring,” said Dan Kruse, WRA board chairman. “This is the strongest spring and early summer sales volume we’ve seen since before the recession.”
Home sales have been up by double-digit margins compared to last year in all but one month since March this year, which made this the best start to the year since 2005. “We’re definitely on pace for a very strong 2015 if sales continue to grow at this pace,” said Kruse.
The 3.8 percent increase in home sale prices in the state in July was actually a slower growth rate than the first half of the year, which saw home sale prices rise 6.9 percent.
Although new listings of homes for sale are up slightly for the year, they dipped somewhat in July, which put some pressure on inventories, the WRA report said. Available inventory is down 14 percent to 8.7 months statewide, but counties that are part of metropolitan areas had just 6.5 months of available supply in July, which will continue to put upward pressure on home prices, the report said.
“The supply of available housing continues to tighten and has become a more serious problem in the cities,” said WRA president and CEO Michael Theo.
