Wisconsin home sales in October were 3.5% higher over the year as home prices and the number of statewide listings continued to increase.
A total of 6,282 homes were sold in the state last month, compared to 6,069 in October 2023, according to the Wisconsin Realtors Association’s latest monthly real estate report. The increase comes after September saw an 8.7% decline over the year.
Year-to-date, sales were 4.1% higher than during the same period of 2023, the report shows.
Meanwhile, “strong demand” for homes and limited supply have maintained pressure on home prices, as the median price rose 10.7% over the year from $280,000 to $310,000 last month. And total statewide listings rose 8% over the year, going from 19,104 in October 2023 to 20,641 last month.
“We’ve had consistent improvement in our listings beginning in November of last year, and the uptick in both new listings and total listings in October was a good sign,” WRA President and CEO Tom Larson said in the report, which shows new listings were 8.6% higher over the year.
Report authors note inventories improved in both rural and urban areas, but “remain tightest” in the state’s metropolitan counties, which had 3.4 months of inventory in October. Smaller cities and towns had 4.2 months of supply, and rural counties had 4.9 months of supply on hand.
“Although months of inventory are tightest in our large cities, they are getting closer to being balanced in Wisconsin’s smaller urban areas and rural communities,” Larson said.
Overall, the state remains a seller’s market as it would have needed 12,270 more listings in October to achieve a “balanced market,” with 6 months of supply.
WRA notes the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage “reversed course” by increasing in October after declining between May and September. It rose to 6.43% last month, though that remains below the average rate from October 2023 of 7.62%.
“It’s good to see mortgage rates below the peak from a year ago, but it was disappointing to see them rise a quarter point in October,” WRA Board of Directors Chair Mary Jo Bowe said in the report. “Unfortunately, spikes in mortgage rates keep both buyers and sellers of existing homes sidelined.”
Despite the improvement in mortgage rates, the “spike” in median prices and “tepid growth in median family income” over the past year means housing affordability in the state has seen very little improvement, report authors noted.
See the report.
