2011 June Home Sales Report
June Home Sales Below Last Year’s Pace
Date: July 18, 2011
MADISON, WI – As expected, the sale of existing homes in Wisconsin for June was below last year’s pace, a consequence of artificially high sales a year ago due to the federal tax credit program, according to data released by the Wisconsin REALTORS
® Association (WRA). Home sales in June were 16 percent lower than that same month last year, and the median sales price was down 7 percent to $140,000.
Inline Video 2147484971
“Actually these figures were a bit better than expected,” said John Horning, Chairman of the WRA Board of Directors, noting the initial deadline set for the 2010 program required a signed contract by the end of April and a closing by the end of June. “The reality is that it’s tough to compare these two months because so many buyers last year were scrambling to get their closings done by June 30,” Horning said. “It will still be a couple of months before the distortions from the federal tax program work their way out of the data,” he said. But the REALTORS® were encouraged to see the June pace of sales better than that seen in May, where sales dropped nearly 23 percent, according to Horning.
While all regions of the state experienced June sales volume below 2010 levels, the reductions varied. The smallest declines were seen in the north and southeast regions, which fell between 10.2 percent and 11.8 percent. In four of the last six months, the north region has recorded the best performance in the state. “This is an indication that the second-home market is showing definite signs of life,” said Horning. Three other regions (the northeast, west and central) had sales fall between 16.4 percent and 19 percent over the period, and existing home sales dropped 22.8 percent in the south central region.
Median prices of existing homes in Wisconsin fell 7 percent between June 2010 and June 2011. Prices dropped by modest margins over the period in four regions in the state, falling between 2.2 percent and 3.2 percent in the central, south central and west regions, and dropped 5.7 percent in the northeast region. The southeast region saw its median prices fall 8.3 percent, with the biggest decline seen in the north region where prices fell 22 percent. “The big median price reduction in the north is another indication of the growing market for second homes in the state,” said WRA President Bill Malkasian. “Vacation homes are frequently on the lower end of the price range which drives the overall median prices down,” he said.
The REALTORS® said the improving employment outlook for Wisconsin should help the housing market. “With nearly 25 thousand jobs added this year alone, and almost 49 thousand since employment bottomed out in December of 2009, the state is moving in the right direction,” said Malkasian. Wisconsin’s unemployment rate stood at 7.4 percent in May, which is well below the national rate of 9.2 percent. “Assuming these trends in the job market continue, we should see housing demand start to pick up, but for now, it’s still a buyer’s market,” he said. The Wisconsin REALTORS® Housing Affordability Index, which measures the percent of the median priced home that a buyer with the statewide median family income can buy, stood at 220 in June. With mortgage rates in the 4.5 percent range, and lower median prices, this is up from last year. “There remain excellent opportunities in Wisconsin for buyers in all price ranges,” said Malkasian.