Wisconsin saw an increase in both home sales and the price of homes in May, with the southeastern region seeing the highest uptick among all regions of the state, according to a report from the Wisconsin Realtors Association.
The uptick in home sales statewide follows two consecutive months of declining sales.
The WRA report found home sales in May rose 3.2% compared with the same month in 2018. It also found the median home price went up 9.1%, to $203,000, relative to the same month the year prior.
As for the southeast region, which includes Kenosha, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Sheboygan, Walworth, Washington and Waukesha counties, home sales increased 4.4% with 3,201 homes sold total for the month and the median home price increased 13.1% to $225,000.
The increase in median home prices for the southeast region outpaced any other area of the state, with the northern region seeing the second-highest uptick at 9%.
The southeast region saw the third-highest increase in home sales for May, with the north region recording an increase of 18.1% relative to the same month last year and the central region seeing an increase of 8.1%.
The statewide increase in sales was not enough to put year-to-date sales in positive territory. Sales for the first five months of the year were 4.3% lower than the same time period last year. Median home prices rose 7.9% over that same time period.
Jean Stefaniak, WRA chairman, said in a statement the uptick in home sales for May is a good sign as the summer sales season begins ramping up. Nearly 43% of homes are typically sold over the four-month period between May and August. In fact, May is on average second only to June in terms of annual sales volume each year.
Stefaniak said even though demand remains strong, weak supply will continue to impact the market until inventories increase.
“We still lag well behind last year in terms of total listings, and until that turns around, this will continue to be a solid seller’s market,” she said.
The lack of inventory was most severe in the larger urban areas of the state. Metropolitan counties — those with a population of 50,000 or more — had 3.9 months’ worth of supply in may, whereas counties with a population of 10,000-50,000 had 5.1 months of inventory and rural counties had 7.8 months of supply.
“There is healthy supply in the rural areas, but the vast majority of people in Wisconsin actually live in the metropolitan areas,” Stefaniak said.
Southeastern Wisconsin saw a 5% dip in available inventory of homes for May, dropping to 3.8 months of available supply. The average days on the market for a home in the region dropped 6.3% to 75 days.
Home affordability also continued to slip, according to WRA’s Wisconsin Affordability index, which shows the fraction of the median-priced home that a buyer with a median family income can afford to buy. The index dropped from 198 in May 2018 to 190 last month.
