It should come as no surprise that home inventory remains quite low and markets extremely tight. This has been a nationwide trend for roughly two years now and Wisconsin is certainly no exception. However, in a twisted sense of logic, home sales across the country kept increasing from year to year. It seemed unprecedented with few signs of changing. That is until this past April, 2017.
According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), April's existing home sales fell as compared to April, 2016. Sales declined 2.3 percent nationally, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.57 million units. In Wisconsin, sales fell by 10.7 percent from the same time last year. News of this even surprised economists, who were predicting a much slighter drop, closer to the 1.1 percent range.
The year-to-year decrease in sales for one month is not a potential indicator that there may be trouble ahead. In March of this year, sales soared over the same period in 2016 despite the shortage of homes on the market. The surge of sales in March simply means the inventory just got a little tighter leaving prospective buyers even more stymied by the lack of available properties.
In all, this means now is the perfect time for potential sellers to list their homes. In Wisconsin, the limited inventory pushed median sale prices in April to $171,000, up 6.9 percent from April 2016. (In the greater Dane Country area, the median sale price saw a 5.1 percent increase to $200,000 over the same period last year.)
Another positive way to look at the dip in April's sales is to realize that despite the percentage decline, April's sales pace was the fourth highest in the past year. High consumer confidence and low mortgage interest rates are continuing to attract more and more buyers. Potential sellers should be reminded of these statistics as a motivator to add their homes to the inventory pool.
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