As mortgage interest rates go up, Northwestern Wisconsin home buyers and sellers are asking about the direction of our market. While no one has a crystal ball, there are three real estate indicators that provide us with insight.
Inventory: This tells us how many homes are on the market at a given time. Low inventory has been the story of the market for the past couple years. When there is a scarcity of homes for sale, and plenty of active buyers, home prices go up!
Days on market: This counts the average time period from when homes are listed for sale, vs. when they go under contract. The faster homes are selling, the hotter the market. When homes start taking longer to sell, it means home prices may slow down, too.
More expensive homes usually take longer to sell than less expensive homes, because there are fewer qualified buyers for the upper price ranges. As interest rates climb, we could see higher-priced homes spending a bit more time on the market.
List-to-Sale ratio: This looks at the original listed price of homes for sale, vs. their final sales price. When the list-to-sale ratio is averaging 95% or higher, sellers are getting 95% of their asking price. In other words, there’s very little “wiggle room” in the home prices. But when this ratio starts dropping, it means sellers are negotiating on price.
Let us tell you where home sales stand today! As a locally-owned family business with over 40 years of experience, we know the Northwestern Wisconsin real estate market like nobody else. Call Six Lakes Realty today for friendly, hometown service!
John Flor
Managing Broker
Six Lakes Realty
Office: (715) 924-4806
Email: john@sixlakesrealty.com
