Hi, Troy Chowanec, RE/MAX Realty 100. Coming to you today from Crystal Ridge in Franklin, Wisconsin with your weekly market update. Today is Thursday March 15th 2012. I got an email from the Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors this week with February statistics for home sales in the greater Milwaukee area. In Milwaukee County, home sales were up 21.1%. We had 493 Sales over the 407 sales we had last year. Almost 86% of these sales were though, were for homes priced under $200,000. In Waukesha County home sales were up 32.1% over last year. There were 222 sales vs. 168 same time last year. 41.3% of the homes sold though were under $200,000. An additional 30% of the homes that sold were between $200,000 and $300,000. The GMAR is saying that this is the 8th month in a row that sales are up by double digits over last year. This is really encouraging news.

The CSS (Centralized Showing Service) report this week shows that we currently have 874 listings that RE/MAX Realty 100 is representing Sellers on. We had 774 showing requests last week which means that you had an 88% chance of having a showing on your listing. This continues the trend another week where listings are down over last year and showing requests are up. So the market continues to tighten and we are continuing to see that there is a lot of garbage on the market and the good properties are getting lots of showings.

If you have any questions about how this affects you or impacts you please give me a call. Until next week I hope you have a great St. Patrick’s Day and enjoy this wonderful weather.

Here are the current market conditions for the Franklin Wisconsin Single Family Home Real Estate Market.

There were 44 homes sold during the 3rd quarter of 2010 in the City of Franklin WI (down from 80 last quarter and down from 69 during the same period in 2009.) The monthly break down is as follows:

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• July – 10 homes sold
• August – 22 homes sold
• September – 12 homes sold

There were 186 active listings in Franklin, WI as of 11 October 2010 (up from from 179 back in July) of which 9 have accepted offers, down from 10 in July. There are an additional 4 homes that are in pending status meaning that they are pretty much ready to close. Homes sold in the 3rd quarter 2010 were on the market, an average, 169 days, up from 133 in Q2. Homes sold for 94.16% of last asking price and 87.36% of assessed value a little down from last quarter. Based on the sales data for the quarter, there is currently a 12-13 month supply of inventory in the Franklin, WI Market up from the 6-7 month supply we had in July. I predicted that the supply of inventory would increase as home sales slowed after the expiration of the tax credit and that has proven correct. There was a total of $13,343,690 in sales volume (almost half that of Q2) translating into an average sales price of $303,266 (up about 17K from Q2) The lowest sold price of a home this quarter was $25,000 and the highest priced sale came in at $780,000. From what I could determine looking at the tax records and the MLS data, there were 6 foreclosure sales and 1 short sale during the quarter. Below is a spreadsheet showing the breakout by month of the sales. Also below are 3 pdf links that provide monthly detailed property info on sold properties. If you are thinking about selling your home please feel free to contact me any time. ~Troy

(all data collected using the Metro-MLS 10/11/10)

Solds MLS Data Sheet July 2010
Solds MLS Data Sheet August 2010
Solds MLS Data Sheet September 2010

By: Paul Gores of the Journal Sentinel

Date: 10 September 2010

Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 11 September 2010 Business Section

Link: http://www.jsonline.com/business/102638414.html

Sales so far this year are down nearly 4% and expected to stay low

Sales of existing homes in the metro Milwaukee area fell for the third consecutive month, dropping 37% in August and dragging totals for the year into negative territory – a place a local industry leader says they may reside until the job situation improves. Realtors sold 946 homes last month, compared with 1,500 in August 2009, according to data released Friday by the Metro MLS Inc. Sales plunged in all four counties – Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington and Waukesha – in August, with Washington County posting the worst percentage falloff at 54.5%. Home sales were down 2% in June from a year earlier, and 45.3% in July. For the first eight months of 2010, sales of existing homes have decreased 3.9%, Metro MLS figures show.

The drop in sales was expected because last summer, more buyers were being drawn into the market by a first-time homebuyer federal tax credit of up to $8,000. At that time, home shoppers believed the credit would expire Dec. 1. However, the incentive was extended and expanded by Congress to April 30 of this year. Home sales have declined this summer since the expiration of the tax credit, which was part of Congress’ economic stimulus package. The slump in sales occurred despite mortgage rates that hit historic lows. “From now until everyone declares the economy fully recovered, house sales should track employment numbers pretty closely,” said Mike Ruzicka, president of the Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors.

Ruzicka said he thinks “household formation” is down, in part because college graduates can’t find work and are going home to live with their parents or renting, which keeps them out of the residential real estate market. He also said he believes rhetoric around the pending elections is having a dampening effect on the attitudes of potential buyers. “With just the negativity of each side saying the other side is going to ruin the world, people are just kind of holding back and saying, ‘OK, I am just going to hunker down until Nov. 2, and if the sun comes up Nov. 3, maybe I’ll look at buying a house,’ ” Ruzicka said.

Realtor Steve Bergelin said the early part of the year “had a lot of buzz” because of the availability of the tax credit, but the buying climate has cooled considerably. “I’ve noticed a significant drop in overall activity – showings on listings, appointments set up. I had lunch with my favorite loan officer yesterday and all he’s really doing is refinancings as opposed to purchases,” said Bergelin, a sales associate with Realty Executives Integrity in Hartland.

Beth Jaworski of Shorewest Realtors in Wauwatosa said low mortgage rates have kept up some interest in the market, and that residential real estate investors still are active. “Most of these people have owned property. They realize, ‘I can buy this house at rock bottom.’ They can rent it out and they can have cash flow immediately. They can rent for a few years, the market turns, and then they pocket the profit and they’ve got cash flow all the while from Day One,” she said.

Ruzicka said home shoppers realize it’s a buyer’s market, and they generally will make an offer 20% lower than the asking price, no matter how reasonable the price is. Jaworski said buyers are very demanding in the tough market right now. “The buyers just think they should get the moon, the stars and their mortgage paid for five years because they’ve heard so much that it’s a buyer’s market,” Jaworski said. “And it is. But with the prices where they are, there are some incredible deals.”

Here are the current market conditions for the Oak Creek Wisconsin Single Family Home Real Estate Market.

There were 84 homes sold during the 2nd quarter of 2010 in the City of Oak Creek WI (up from 36 last quarter and up from 62 during the same period in 2009.) The monthly break down is as follows:

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• April – 27 homes sold
• May – 32 homes sold
• June – 25 homes sold

There were 152 active listings in Oak Creek, WI as of 12 July 2010 of which 16 have accepted offers.  There are an additional 5 homes that are in pending status meaning that they are pretty much ready to close. Homes sold in the 2nd quarter 2010 were on the market, an average, 136 days. Homes were selling for 96.10% of last asking price and 87.22% of assessed value. Based on the sales data for the quarter, there is currently a 5-6 month supply of inventory in the Oak Creek, WI Market. I expect that with the expiration of the tax credit that we will see the supply of inventory increase as fewer homes are sold over the next few months. There was a total of $17,965,960 in sales volume translating into an average sales price of $222,558.   The lowest sold price of a home this quarter was $43,000 and the highest priced sale came in at $424,760. From what I could determine looking at the tax records and the MLS data, there were 11 foreclosure sales and 4 short sales during the quarter. Below is a spreadsheet showing the breakout by month of the sales. Also below are 3 pdf links that provide monthly detailed property info on sold properties. If you are thinking about selling your home please feel free to contact me any time. ~Troy

(all data collected using the Metro-MLS 7/14/10)

Solds MLS Data Sheet April 2010
Solds MLS Data Sheet May 2010
Solds MLS Data Sheet June 2010

Here are the current market conditions for the Franklin Wisconsin Single Family Home Real Estate Market.

There were 80 homes sold during the 2nd quarter of 2010 in the City of Franklin WI (up from 47 last quarter and up from 58 during the same period in 2009.) The monthly break down is as follows:

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• April – 24 homes sold
• May – 29 homes sold
• June – 27 homes sold

There were 179 active listings in Franklin, WI as of 12 July 2010 (down from from 207 back in April) of which 10 have accepted offers, down from 30 in April. There are an additional 10 homes that are in pending status meaning that they are pretty much ready to close. Homes sold in the 2nd quarter 2010 were on the market, an average, 133 days, down from 168 in Q1. Homes were selling for 94.95% of last asking price and 91.97% of assessed value a little down from last quarter. Based on the sales data for the quarter, there is currently a 6-7 month supply of inventory in the Franklin, WI Market down from the 13-14 month supply we had in April. I expect that with the expiration of the tax credit that we will see the supply of inventory increase as fewer homes are sold over the next few months. There was a total of $21,726,252 in sales volume (almost twice that of Q1) translating into an average sales price of $286,029 (up about 38K from Q1) The lowest sold price of a home this quarter was $74,000 and the highest priced sale came in at $760,000. From what I could determine looking at the tax records and the MLS data, there were 10 foreclosure sales and 3 short sales during the quarter. Below is a spreadsheet showing the breakout by month of the sales. Also below are 3 pdf links that provide monthly detailed property info on sold properties. If you are thinking about selling your home please feel free to contact me any time. ~Troy

(all data collected using the Metro-MLS 7/12/10)

Solds MLS Data Sheet April 2010
Solds MLS Data Sheet May 2010
Solds MLS Data Sheet June 2010

Posted May 12, 2010 10:02am EDT Yahoo Finance
Original Post Link

Among the crowded ranks of economists and market watchers, Dean Baker stands out. Baker presciently called the housing bubble when he published  “The Run-up in Home Prices: Is It Real or Is It Another Bubble?” in 2002.

So does our guest Baker see the so-called housing recovery now? “No. I mean I think people that are saying that just aren’t paying attention to what’s in front of their eyes,” says Baker, an American economist and co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research.

“I think we’re going to see a big fall-off in purchases for the rest of 2010 and even into 2011,” Baker says. “So the idea that somehow the market is stable, that housing prices will rise anytime soon – it’s really hard to make a case for that.”

Baker lays out several reasons for his bearish case:

• Programs that lifted the market, including the tax credit for first-time buyers, have expired.
• The Federal Reserve is exiting the mortgage market, which will likely push rates to 5.5% to 6% by the end of the year.
• There’s still an inventory glut and rental rates are falling in many markets, notes Baker, author of “False Profits: Recovering from the Bubble Economy.” He says the rental market doesn’t lie.

Naturally the housing bulls disagree. Hedge-fund manager John Paulson, for example, said housing prices in hard-hit California will begin to rise this year, setting the stage for a wider recovery, as the FT reports.

So what are the chances of, say, another tax credit or purchase of mortgage-backed securities? “I think they’d be reluctant to do that because of the signal it would send,” Baker says in the accompanying clip. “I mean it would send this unambiguous signal things really are bad, worse than had been advertised.”

Click on the player to learn about Baker’s idea to let struggling homeowners stay in their homes, and prevent home inventory from climbing even higher.

Here are the current market conditions for the Greenfield Wisconsin Single Family Home Real Estate Market.

There were 36 homes sold during the 1st quarter of 2010 in the City of Greenfield WI (about 50% less than last quarter.) The monthly break down is as follows:

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• January-  12 homes sold
• February- 5 homes sold
• March- 19 homes sold

There are 157 active listings in Greenfield, WI as of 11 May 2010 (about 33% more than last quarter) of which 28 have accepted offers. There are an additional 19 homes that are in pending status meaning that they are pretty much ready to close. Homes sold in the 1st quarter 2010 were on the market, on average, 133 days, up from 127 last quarter. Homes were selling for 95.86% of last asking price and 86.56% of assessed value. Based on the sales data for the quarter, there is currently a 13 month supply of inventory in the Greenfield, WI Market which is a dramatic increase over last quarter. While about 22% of the total number of sales were listed as foreclosures they were mostly comprised of homes at the lower price points.  There was a total of $7,270,080 in sales volume which translates into an average sales price of $201,947 (up dramatically from the previous quarter) for the Greenfield WI home market.

(all data collected using the Metro-MLS 5/11/10)