After more than two years of continued growth, Wisconsin’s housing market slowed down a little in October. Numbers released by the Wisconsin Realtors Association show home sales for October fell just five short of the total for the same month in 2012, with 5,647 homes sold my members.
Association President Mike Theo says it’s the first time since July of 2011 that monthly sales have fallen short of those from the previous year. Theo says “while it’s a little surprising, it wasn’t totally unexpected that the double digit increases that we’ve been seeing month to month would moderate over time.”
While it’s too early to know why sales slowed down or if will reflect a change in the state’s housing market, Theo suspects rising interest rates might have played a role. Those have gone up about one percent since the beginning of the year. Still, Theo notes that year to date sales are up over 12 percent compared to the first ten months of 2012.
Median sale prices did continue to climb in October, with the typical house selling for around $142,500, a jump of 5.6 percent from last year. Theo sees that as a “good sign” that housing is once again becoming a smart investment for families.
