The Dane County area’s housing market last year had its “first meaningful increase” in available homes since the pandemic, even as prices increased slightly more than expected.
That’s according to the latest report from Stark Company Realtors President and CEO David Stark covering regional market trends for the winter season and 2024 overall.
It shows that by year’s end, Dane County had 605 homes on the market — an increase of 30.7%, while nearby Sauk and Columbia counties collectively had 13.3% more homes on the market. Still, Stark notes most of the added inventory in Dane County was condos, which increased 106% over the year to 163, while single family homes rose 15% to 442.
As of early January, the latest period covered in Stark’s newsletter, 53% of single family homes and 40% of condos on the market were new construction. While he notes the “continued shortage of used inventory is striking,” seasonal trends are also playing a role.
“Many re-sellers take their homes off the market over the holidays and many more are waiting for spring to sell,” he wrote. “Builders, by contrast, are generally going to keep their inventory on the market until it sells.”
The report references predictions from the National Association of Realtors that sales would increase 10% to 15% in 2024, but sales in Dane County rose just over 7% for the year. For Columbia and Sauk counties, the increase was just under 3%.
And while prices were predicted to rise 6% in 2024, Dane County median prices increased 7.34%, “just slightly hotter than we expected.” By comparison, Sauk and Columbia prices increased by 8.66%.
Stark says single family homes made up most of that growth, with a 9.2% increase for the year, while condo prices in the area were 2.8% higher. Last year marked a four-year run where median prices have risen by nearly 40%, or 8.7% per year compounded, both in Dane and Columbia and Sauk counties.
Looking ahead, he says prices show no signs of falling in the near future, arguing there’s “simply too much demand in relation to the available supply” for that to occur.
“The pace of increase could decline, and we hope that it does,” he wrote. “We’ve already seen a slight decrease in the size of overbids, which is a positive sign. But that doesn’t mean prices are falling. Until we get a lot more inventory than we currently have, prices will continue to rise.”
See the full report.
