The 4-county Metropolitan Milwaukee housing market continued its strong

Home Sales Up 25.8% in June

The 4-county Metropolitan Milwaukee housing market continued its strong advance in June and for the 2nd Quarter of 2012, posting 25.8% and 28.6% increases in sales, respectively, over 2011.

June was the 12th consecutive month in which home sales increased by double-digits. The combination of historically low interest rates and low prices has helped the market tremendously despite recent fluctuations in consumer confidence.

June also saw a 12.9% decline in homes listed for sale, continuing a recent trend as sales increased. The reduction in listings was needed during the depths of the recession in order to clear foreclosures from the market. However, in today’s market the contraction of listings has led to a tight level of inventory, now at only 6.3 months.

The combination of high sales and low inventory should yield price pressure in the near future, which, in fact, the market started to bear out in the last quarter. Washington and Walworth Counties were the first to show positive price appreciation, with respective 1% and 1.3% increases over the 2nd quarter of 2011.


County-by-County Sales Analysis for June compared to 2011:

• Milwaukee County up 27.2% in sales (969 units vs. 762 units)
• Waukesha County was up 20.3% (534 sales compared with 444)
• Washington County was up 54.8.% (161 vs. 104)
• Ozaukee County also up 11.0% (121 units vs. 109 units)
• Racine County up 2.1% in sales (198 units vs. 194 units)
• Kenosha County was down 5.7% in sales (164 units vs. 174 units)
• Walworth County up 34.7% in sales (132 units vs. 98 units)

County-by-County Sales Analysis for the 2nd Quarter compared to 2011:

• Milwaukee County up 25.2% in sales (4,555 units vs. 3,639 units)
• Waukesha County was up 31.7% (2,245 sales compared with 1,705)
• Washington County was up 43.8% (667 vs. 464)
• Ozaukee County also up 29.0% (503 units vs. 390 units)
• Racine County up 11.4% in sales (945 units vs. 848 units)
• Kenosha County was up 11.0% in sales (836 units vs. 753 units)
• Walworth County up 21.9% in sales (613 units vs. 503 units)