Some Wisconsin Sellers Defy Slowing Market Trends
Paul and Kristen Walker’s story goes against expectations.
Just four days after they put their Wisconsin house on the market, it sold. In fact, the only thing that took them less time was the two days it took to buy their new home on Fox Tail Lane, the Oshkosh Northwestern reports.
“We’d been looking casually at houses for about four months,” Paul Walker said. “(Our real estate agent) called when the right house came around. Within a week, we had bought and sold.”
The Walkers defied trends showing that single-family homes remain on the market significantly longer now, have declined in the volume sold in the area and throughout the New North region and that they sell at lower prices. But, the Walker’s experience also reinforces the positive outlook real estate professionals have that the Wisconsin housing market will rebound quickly.
Home sales in Winnebago County dropped 6.3 percent in the third quarter, along with a a median home price decline of 3.8 percent, to $123,100, despite Wisconsin mortgage rates remaining low.
This is the second quarter in a row that sales declined compared to 2005 figures. In the second quarter of 2006, sales volume dropped 8.7 percent. Median home values did show a modest, one percent increase to $129,300 in the second quarter.
Coldwell Banker Schwab Realty President Dennis Schwab attributed slow sales to a lack of buyers even as 30-year mortgage interest rates remain at about 6.125 percent.
“We’ve kind of depleted that market,” Schwab said. “For two or three years, the market was unbelievably good. It’s not practical to think it could keep going like it was.”
Schwab’s belief that the local housing market leveled off this year after a boom is shared by many. Experts attribute it to the glut of no down payment mortgage loans signed to take advantage of low interest rates.
“It creates a chain reaction as far as the average sale price,” Schwab said. “Right now, you do not have a lot of buyers out there looking for properties seriously because it’s the holiday season. But, I really believe we will end up even or ahead of last year at the end of this quarter.”
But with the current market conditions, sellers don’t just have to sit back and wait for the buyers to make an offer. Walker said sellers can take a few proactive steps to make their homes more attractive.
“We rented a storage shed. Got the clutter out. We made it look more spacious. We did all the right things.”
It’s a buyer’s market, Walker said, and prospective shoppers can be choosy thanks to the larger number of properties available and the shortage of buyers.
“Don’t settle for less than you want,” he said. “There’s a lot of houses out there. Find the style, size and location you want and get the best deal.”