Warm Weather Re-ignites Hot Wisconsin Home Sales Market 

Madison –After taking a breather during the fourth quarter of 1999, sales of existing single family homes resumed their record-setting ways during the first quarter of 2000, according to the most recent report from the Wisconsin REALTORS® Association (WRA) on the statewide home resale market.

First quarter sales of existing homes in Wisconsin for 2000 were estimated to be 25,450, topping the 1999 record of 25,275 units sold; an increase of 0.7%. Nationally, home sales on the year were up 2.4%, while the Midwest saw an increase of 2.3% over 1999’s first quarter total.

“Once we got over the Y2K hump, another mild winter certainly helped create an interesting home sales market,” says WRA President William Berland. “The warmer than usual weather really brought out the buyers; to such a large extent that in many places around the state we could have sold more but were limited by a lack of homes for sale. Many sellers prefer to wait for the spring and summer months to put their house on the market. Those who did choose to sell during the winter months had the upper hand.”

“What’s interesting is that this all happened while borrowing rates were on the increase,” said William Malkasian, WRA executive vice president. “Two new factors may also be serving to boost sales despite the rising rates; the threat of inflation and stock market volatility. With the huge sell-off on Wall Street during March and April and the continued volatility, new homebuyers have emerged. “In the past, money has been recycled into stock,” said Malkasian. “Now investors may be shifting to real estate which is less volatile and a hedge against inflation. We haven’t had to think about this in over a decade but historically, real estate has proven to be an excellent hedge against inflation. You purchase a home in today’s dollars but you pay back at tomorrow’s lesser-valued dollar.”

Percentage changes in multiple listing service sales for the first quarter 2000 vs. 1999 for selected counties around Wisconsin include increases in St. Croix County +29.5%, Fond Du Lac County +29.0%, LaCrosse County +12.4%, Outagamie County +8.5%, Kenosha County +7.5%, Winnebago +4.3%, Rock County +3.5%, Brown County +0.9%, Milwaukee County +0.6%. Decreases in sales were seen in Waukesha County –2.7%, Dane County –3.7%, Racine County – 4.0%, Washington County –5.4%, Eau Claire County –10.4%, Sheboygan County –11.6%, Walworth County –15.6%, and Ozaukee County – 21.7%.

The median price of an existing single-family home in Wisconsin for the first quarter of 2000 was $111,900; a 4.2% increase over the 1999 first quarter figure of $107,400 for the same period. Over the same one-year period, Midwest prices have risen 3.9% to $118,600 in 2000, while the United States has seen an overall increase in the median home price of 3.2%, to a level of $133,400.

“For the past couple of years, price increases have been pretty much in line with inflation,” says Malkasian. “But if the first quarter is any indication, with the number of buyers outnumbering the number of sellers, the balance we have enjoyed the past couple of years may be gone for now- putting pressure on prices.”

Comparative percentage changes in median price for the first quarter 2000 vs.1999 by selected counties around Wisconsin include increases: Racine County +12.6% to $104,300, St. Croix County +11.5% to $144,300, Eau Claire County +11.1% to $100,000, Ozaukee County +10.6% to $176,100, LaCrosse County +9.8% to $94,100, Outagamie County +9.6% to $107,700, Winnebago County +8.2% to $92,600, Brown County +6.0% to $110,600, Waukesha County +5.9% to $168,900, Dane County +5.5% to $144,500, Kenosha County +5.3% to $111,800, Walworth County +4.4% to $124,000, Washington County +4.4% to $146,400, Rock County +3.4 to $90,900, Fond Du Lac County +1.3% to $93,700. The median price decreased in Milwaukee County -1.4% to $93,200, and Sheboygan County –5.7% to $93,500.

The Wisconsin REALTORS® Association is one of the largest trade associations in the state, representing over 12,000 real estate brokers, sales people and affiliates statewide.

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