The State of the Market — May 2013
Joseph A. Horning, President, Shorewest, REALTORS®

Throughout the first quarter, the nation saw growth in home sales and median prices. In Wisconsin, first quarter home sales were up 11% and median prices rose 5% compared with the first quarter of 2012. We are seeing fewer distressed properties, which is one of the reasons median prices are climbing. Unfortunately, the rate of growth has been slowing down, mostly due to the lack of homes available for sale. Even with an increase of just 3% year-over-year, March sales brought the 21st consecutive month of growth. It is the highest sales volume that Wisconsin has seen since 2007, before the housing bubble burst.

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Market Statistics

Learn what's  happening in your market area by clicking on the county link. You'll find helpful information, including a year-to-year and quarter comparisons of new listings, closed sales, median sales price, active listings and months of inventory.

Counties: Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozaukee, Washington, Kenosha, Racine, Walworth, Jefferson, Dodge, Rock, Brown and Sheboygan.

Join Shorewest for our Free Career Seminar — June 1, 2013

Interested in becoming part of the happiest profession in the United States? CareerBliss.com recently ranked the happiest jobs of 2013, with real estate agents coming in at number one.

“Real estate agents have definitely weathered quite a financial storm over the past few years,” says CEO and co-founder of CareerBliss Heidi Golledge. The market has improved, inventory is low and mortgage rates are still affordable, “making it a real estate agent’s dream as new homes hit the market and are getting multiple offers in the first week. Real estate professionals say that the way they work and the rewards they are seeing with a growing market have helped boost overall happiness for those in this career.”

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Foreclosure Rates Fall to 1.9% in Southeastern Wisconsin, Down Nationally

Foreclosure rates continue to decline in southeastern Wisconsin, reaching a new low of 1.93% in February for the Milwaukee region. According to CoreLogic, this is down .7 points from the same month year-over-year. This local foreclosure rate is higher than Wisconsin’s average rate of 1.65% but it is still lower than the overall national rate of 2.85%.

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Home Prices Post Biggest National Gain Since 2006

The S&P Case-Shiller index showed the biggest year-over-year gains in prices since 2006. The index measures the 20 largest markets in the nation each January and has posted the change in home prices each year above. Since the housing bubble burst in January of 2006, home prices have continued to decrease, with the lowest rates in January of 2009. Since then we have seen growth, but have yet to be back in positive gains until this year. With 12% of growth from 2012 to 2013, it is clear that the market has turned the corner and we will continue to see price appreciation in the future. Some of the largest gains can be seen in areas hurt most by the housing bubble burst, led by a 23.3% gains in Phoenix, with greater than 10% growth in eight cities including formerly foreclosure-ridden cities like Detroit, Las Vegas and Miami.

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Market Analysts Revise 2013 Projections — The Housing Market is Stronger than Anticipated

Analysts recorded their future price projections at the end of 2012, and with increases ranging from 2% to 5.3%. Each analyst has since upgraded their price projections based on the first quarter, with the lowest gains at 4.2%. With an average growth of 2.89%, the analysts agree — the market is accelerating faster than they anticipated. Consumers can expect home prices to rise more quickly based on the added momentum the experts predict for 2013.

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Shorewest, REALTORS® and Wisconsin Mortgage Corporation Show Impressive Growth

All data shown above reflects January 1-March 31 of that year.

Shorewest, REALTORS®, Wisconsin’s Largest Home Seller™ since 1951, continued to grow in the first quarter of 2013. From January 1-March 31 of 2013, Shorewest reported closed sales of 2,051 units and over $396 million. Compared with the same period in 2012, sales grew by 19.6% and dollar volume by 26.5%. Our average sales price also increased by $10,400, a year-over-year rate of growth of 5.6%. As you can see from the numbers above, Shorewest has continued to grow throughout the housing recovery, and we can predict strong numbers for the entire year based on the growth shown in Q1

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Low Inventory Continues to Hold Up Homebuyers

Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) says that home sales are “stuck” this spring due to the limited number of homes available to buy. Though the spring market usually brings a larger supply of homes to market, this year does not reflect that common pattern. The current supply of homes for sale is 17% below 2012 levels, according to NAR data, and March 2013 inventory levels fell 21% year-over-year in all 38 major metropolitan areas.

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Mortgage Rates Remain Affordable, but Should Increase by the End of 2013

Although mortgage rates for the 30-year Fixed Rate Mortgage (FRM) hit their all-time lows in September and October 2012, low rates continue, making house buying affordable. The Federal Reserve has been artificially holding rates down to stimulate the economy, and it has been working! The growth we have seen, especially in the last year, shows the economy is responding. HSH Associates, the nation’s largest publisher of mortgage information, recently stated, “If not otherwise manipulated, higher rates are the natural result of a growing economy, as rising demand for available credit supply and concerns about inflation allow costs to rise.” The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) agrees, stating “mortgage rates are expected to creep up slowly in 2013.”

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My Best Advice to Home Buyers
John Inzeo, Wisconsin Mortgage Corporation

Financing a new home can be both a stressful and satisfying experience. Unfortunately, in today’s lending environment, much of the stress is created during the process of getting your loan approved. A good lender will prepare you for the financing portion of your journey. With today’s regulations, it can seem like common sense has gone out the window. Many of the new regulations are necessary and good lenders have adapted their systems to soften the impact on consumers. As I described in Part 1 of this series, the best way to begin the process (and avoid stress) is to get a valid pre-approval.

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Whether you're buying or selling real estate, Shorewest and its family of companies and affiliations
has you covered.