As the frozen housing market teeters on the edge, Milwaukee remains the strongest metro in the country.
Home sales in the Wisconsin city are up 12 percent year-over-year and its prices are up 8.2 percent, according to a new report from Redfin.
Buyers are also bidding over the selling price for a typical home in the city.
That is a starkly different picture than in the rest of the country, where 33 out of the 50 largest metro areas are seeing price cuts.
Sellers are also lowering prices or pulling their homes off the market, spooked by high mortgage rates and mounting insurance premiums.
Of the 10 metros where housing markets are holding up best, six are in the Rust Belt.
The formerly prosperous steel manufacturing area experienced many years of decline with the relocation of factories. Nonetheless, the trend of people leaving is decreasing as more individuals and families opt to reside in the city.
Part of the reason Milwaukee is faring better than other major cities is that its housing prices are below the national average.
Home sales in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, are up 12 percent year-over-year
Buyers are increasingly drawn to more affordable areas, especially considering the price of US homes has surged 50 percent since the pandemic.
‘Is our market white hot? No. But is it red hot? Yes,’ Redfin agent W.J. Eulberg said of Milwaukee.
‘Unlike much of the country, Milwaukee is not a buyer’s market,’ he explained.
Although homes aren’t receiving 15 offers or selling for $80,000 above the listing price as they did during the pandemic, they are still being quickly purchased due to ongoing inventory shortages.
Eulberg said he recently listed a home for sale in South Milwaukee that had an offer made within three hours of hitting the market.
The property sold for around $50,000 more than its $256,000 list price because it was fairly priced, in good shape and in a decent location, he said.
The city’s proximity to Chicago is a selling point for many buyers, he added.
Milwaukee is seeing a shortage of homes for sale due to a variety of factors.
Milwaukee is faring better than other major cities as its housing prices are below the national average
Real estate agent W.J. Eulberg said the Milwaukee market is red hot
Many homeowners are reluctant to list their properties because they wish to keep the extremely low mortgage rates they obtained during the pandemic, a trend noticeable nationwide.
The Midwest and Northeast have been constructing fewer houses compared to the South and West, where some regions are now seeing falling home prices because of excess inventory and lower demand.
Moreover, in Milwaukee, there is limited space for new construction, and many recently constructed homes are not affordable for the average first-time buyer.
Chicago, just a two hour drive from Milwaukee, is the second best housing market in the country, according to Redfin.
The Windy City is seeing a drop in inventory and an uptick in speed of sales, which are signs of a resilient market.
Rounding out the top 10 list are Philadelphia, Minneapolis, New York, Cincinnati, Detroit, Newark, NJ, Pittsburgh, and Virginia Beach, VA.
By contrast all of the fastest-cooling metros are in the Sun Belt.
Las Vegas’ market is cooling the fastest with home sales down 10.2 percent compared to the same time last year.
Inventory is also up a staggering 44.8 percent year-over-year.
Las Vegas realtor Cherra Bergman noted that buyers now have more options than in recent years, so they feel they can be more deliberate in their decisions.
Even when they find a home they really like, they often wait to find something better.
‘House hunters are cost-conscious because mortgage rates are high, so many are opting for new-construction homes since builders here are offering great incentives like mortgage-rate buydowns and money toward closing costs in order to offload inventory.’
