The inventory of homes on the market hit a new low last month, yet sales were still high for the usually slow month of January.
The Wisconsin Realtors Association reported Monday that there were just 22,092 homes for sale last month, a 14% drop from January 2019.
“What’s amazing is that we performed so well, in light of historically low inventory levels in January,” WRA Chairman Steve Beers said in a news release.
There were 4,143 homes sold last month in Wisconsin, up from 3,804 a year prior.
The association began tracking inventory levels in December 2009. In January 2010 there were more than 56,000 homes for sale in Wisconsin.
The state currently sits at a 3.2-month inventory of houses for sale. Well under the balanced market mark of six months, the lower supply gives sellers the advantage.
“Sales grew in spite of the weak inventories, but that creates strong pressure on prices, which has been a persistent issue for several years,” WRA President and CEO Michael Theo said.
The median sales price for a home last month was $190,000 — nearly 9% higher than the $175,000 mark recorded a year prior.
Eau Claire, Chippewa and Dunn counties mirrored the state trends of strong sales, higher prices and lower inventory during January.
The median price of homes sold last month in Dunn County was 22% higher than a year before. That mid-range mark reached $215,000 last month in the county, up from $175,950 in January 2019.
There were 34 homes sold in Dunn County last month, up 10 from a year prior.
Chippewa County saw a 10% uptick in its median home price. Selling for $209,900 last month, the median home price was $189,900 in January 2019. The 55 homes sold there last month was up from 39 sold a year prior.
There was only a slight increase in sales volume and median prices in Eau Claire County, but inventory had dropped to the lowest level found in western Wisconsin. The county now has a 2.5-month supply of homes for sale, which is in line with the 2.6-month average for metropolitan areas in the state.
Though there are several rural counties in the state with housing inventories of six months or higher, none are in western Wisconsin.
