The Wisconsin REALTORS Association (WRA) announced the release of its October 2024 Wisconsin Real Estate Report, noting a rebound in sales following a fall in September.
Report highlights include:
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Compared to October 2023, existing home sales rose 3.5%, with strong demand and tight supply continuing to put upward pressure on the median price, which rose 10.7% to $310,000 over the past 12 months;
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On a year-to-date basis, closed sales rose 4.1% relative to the first 10 months of 2023, and the median price rose 8% to $310,000;
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Inventories have improved due in part to the spike in listings recorded in October, with new listings rising 8.6% compared to a year earlier and pushing total listings up 8% over October 2023;
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Inventories improved across all urban-rural classifications, but they remain tightest in the state’s metropolitan counties, which had just 3.4 months of supply in October;
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In contrast, micropolitan counties, which include smaller cities and towns, had 4.2 months of supply, and counties classified as rural had 4.9 months of supply;
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The state remains a seller’s market and would have needed 12,720 additional listings in October to reach a balanced market characterized by six months of supply;
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After falling 88 basis points between May and September, the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage reversed course and increased a quarter percent in October to 6.43%, but mortgage rates are more than a percent lower than October 2023; and
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The spike in median prices and the tepid growth in median family income over the last year led to very little improvement in affordability, and the Wisconsin Housing Affordability Index rose just 1.6% since October 2023.
