2011 December Home Sales Report
Home Sales Stabilize in 2011 as Median Prices Fall
Date: January 23, 2012
MADISON, WI – The Wisconsin real estate market improved in 2011 with home sales totaling slightly above 2010 levels, according to a year-end report released by the Wisconsin REALTORS
® Association (WRA). Sales of existing homes for 2011 were 0.2 percent above 2010, and the median price of homes fell 6.4 percent to $132,000, according to the report. Monthly trends in home sales ran well above 2010 levels throughout the second half of the year.
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"Remember that home sales were pushed into the first half of2010 due to the Federal Homebuyer Tax Rebate program, so weexpected the first half of 2011 to look weak and the latter half tolook stronger by comparison," said Rob Keefe, Chairman of the WRABoard of Directors. "What is encouraging is to see monthly homesales continue to outpace last year's levels," he said, noting thathome sales in December were 11.3 percent higher than December2010.
Regionally, sales were typically within 5 percent of 2010levels. The strongest growth in home sales was found in theSoutheast region where existing home sales rose 3.4 percent overthe previous year, followed by the North region where sales grew2.1 percent. Sales in the Northeast region were even, with anincrease of 0.1 percent with last year, but sales were slightlylower, down 1.2 percent, in the South Central region. Finally,annual sales dropped 4.8 percent in the West region, and fell 6.1percent in the central part of the state. Median prices for theyear were below 2010 levels in all regions of the state, withprices falling between 3.6 percent and 5.5 percent in five of thesix regions. In contrast, the Southeast region dropped 9.1 percentover the period.
The WRA's report said other economic factors impacting thehousing market also showed signs of improvement. "We are seeingsome promising signals in the state labor market," said WRAPresident and CEO, Michael Theo, who noted that the statewideunemployment rate dropped more than a half percent over the lasttwo months to 7.1 percent in December. "We are actually seeingprivate sector job growth in excess of the lost local governmentemployment for 2011, and with net job growth outpacing the growthin the labor force for the year, the rate of unemployment has beenfalling," said Theo. "If home sales are to continue to grow, wewill need more robust job growth going forward, but a fallingunemployment rate is a welcomed sign," he said.
Another bright spot in the WRA's report showed inventories ofunsold homes dropped to 12.5 months of supply in December, which isthe first time it has been below 13 months since the WRA begantracking inventory levels in May 2010. In addition, the WisconsinHousing Affordability Index, which shows what percentage of amedian-priced home a buyer with the median family income canafford, stood at 269 for December 2011, up from 230 in December2010. "The Wisconsin housing market is still very much a buyer'smarket, and the decline in median prices in December combined with30-year mortgage rates below 4 percent has pushed affordability tovery high levels, which is great news for buyers who qualify formortgage credit," said Theo.