Wisconsin Homes Prices Still Rising
Housing inventory shrinking. Number of sales in 2021 approximate to 2020.
Sold sign. Photo by Dave Reid.
There are still plenty of unknowns heading into the new year, but one thing is for sure: The cost of buying a house in Wisconsin is going up.
For years, the market has been defined by strong demand for homes and a declining number of them on the market. Month after month, prices have been rising — but month after month, homes have kept selling.
But sales for the first 11 months of the year are still 0.3 percent ahead of last year, which saw record sales of existing homes.
“It’s a solid market, there’s just no doubt about that,” said David Clark, the Marquette University economist who releases the monthly sales reports in conjunction with the WRA. “It’s remarkable that we continue to have real strong sales for the year, even as inventory has tightened compared to where we were last year.”
That inventory has tightened considerably; the total number of listings in November was down 7 percent from the year before. As a result, the median price of a home in Wisconsin rose 7.6 percent in November, to $240,000.
Clark said there’s hope among economists that after years of decline housing supply may start to expand in 2022.
Even if it doesn’t, Clark said, the market is likely to stay busy.
“Buyers and sellers have adapted to this tight market,” he said. “They know that this is a market that moves quickly, and even with lower levels of inventory, we’re able to accommodate more sales than was the case when inventories were stronger.”
Wisconsin’s 2021 home sales may top 2020. They may not. Either way, home prices are going up. was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
