With the kids back in school and the weather cooling, the housing market begins its annual cooldown as well. Nationally, buyer and seller activity remained strong, buoyed by low mortgage rates and a strong economy. The market fundamentals suggest no significant changes from recent trends, other than the seasonally tempered pace we see this time of year. As we move into the final three months of 2019, buyers will find fewer homes coming on the market, but also less competition for those homes.
New Listings in the Milwaukee region increased 9.6 percent to 2,107. Pending
Sales were down 60.4 percent to 564. Inventory levels rose 15.0 percent to
4,829 units.
Prices continued to gain traction. The Median Sales Price increased 9.1 percent
to $240,000. Days on Market was down 9.4 percent to 29 days. Buyers felt
empowered as Months Supply of Inventory was up 26.9 percent to 3.3 months.
In Washington there are discussions around a broad overhaul of the housing
finance system, including the re-privatization of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
and reforms to federal agencies involved with financing substantial portions of
the mortgages made every year. Many of these policy conversations and
eventual changes will take months or years to be implemented and their impact
is not yet clear. While Halloween decorations are beginning to adorn homes
around the country, the real estate market this fall is looking far from scary.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and should reflect only on trends that affect the economics of real estate.
