September 10, 2013 – Sales of homes in the 4-county Metropolitan Milwaukee real estate market increased 15% compared to August of 2013. There were a total of 1,862 homes sold in August, compared to 1,619 a year earlier.
All four counties in the metropolitan area had an increase in sales, led by a 109-unit gain in Milwaukee County. Waukesha County had 53 more sales from 2012. And, in Washington County there were 49 more sales, and 32 more in Ozaukee County.
August sales are typically strong as families looking to get into a home before the new school year starts close on their sale before the end of the month.
As we have been noting all year, the cumulative level of sales through August makes the 2013 market look at lot like the market seen in the early 2000s. Through August 31st there were 12,433 sales for the year. From 2000 to 2004, sales through August averaged 12,178 units.
Projections for the remainder of 2013 show the year ending with somewhere between 17,035 and 18,071 total sales. That would place 2013 about even with 2001 or 2002 when there were 17,321 and 18,479 sales, respectively.
While the early months of the year were characterized by low inventory levels, August marked the fifth consecutive month of increased listings compared to the same months in 2012.
Milwaukee County had 81 additional listings from 2012, followed by 62 in Waukesha, 32 in Ozaukee and 21 in Washington Counties.
With total metro area listings in August of 11,529, the market’s inventory level was 7.94-months, down slightly from July’s 8.02 level. A year ago, the inventory level was at 13.02-months. If the 1,421 listings with an active offer are subtracted from current listings, the inventory level drops to 5.72-months.
The market is proving to be very “balanced” favoring neither buyers nor sellers, in contrast to the wild swings we saw over the last decade. Sellers should not assume they will get whatever they ask for, and buyers should know the days of deep discounts are gone; a REALTORS® guidance will help both parties purchase or sell a property for a fair price.
