Red-hot housing market shows no signs of slowing down in Dane County.
Photo By: Shutter Zone Media The housing market in Dane County is booming right now. Homes are selling fast and buyers are competing to outbid each other – sometimes offering a lot more money than the asking price.
“There is not an easy road for buyers in this marketplace,” said Ruth Hackney, the CEO of the Realtors Association of South Central Wisconsin. “Because of the competitiveness, this can be a frustrating process for people looking to buy a home. Incredibly frustrating. But there is a lot of opportunity as well.”
Hackney says right now, there are too many people who want to move to Dane County and just not enough homes.
“Patience is going to be your number one asset,” said Hackney when it comes to buying a home. “There will be some heartache because when you make an offer and there are 20 other offers on the table, there is a high likelihood you won’t get that home,” According to the Wisconsin Realtors Association, the number of total listings statewide is down almost 30% from April 2020 compared to April 2021. The price for a home is going up, too. A year ago, the median average price for a home in Dane County was $316,000. But now that figure has jumped to $350,000– an increase of almost $35,000.
Homes are also selling faster. A home for sale in south-central Wisconsin was on the market for an average of 96 days in April of 2020. Now, that number has been cut down to 77 days in April of 2021.
Be patient and don’t fall in love.
Work hard to not get in over your head.
It may take a few tries
Be a bit flexible on some of their terms.”
If you’re are approved for $300,000 loan, don’t look at $300,000 houses. Look at $250,000 houses.
But if you’re looking to sell – this is the market you want to see. “When I talk to my agents, those who are listing are saying they spend their time sorting stacks of offers for their sellers,” said Hackney. “Fifty percent of listings in Dane county sold for above-asking price. So, if you are interested in selling right now is definitely the time,” This hot housing market isn’t showing any signs of cooling off any time soon.
“I see this unfortunately as a trend for at least through 2022 potentially even beyond that,” said Hackney.
Can’t buy? Build Dayna and Kyle McManners will soon be the proud owners of a new home under construction in Verona. But initially, the couple wanted to buy a home. They put in a bid $30,000 over the asking price for the first and only home they saw.
“In order to be competitive, in order to get a house in this market, it’s kind of what you have to do,” Kyle said about his bid.
“(I thought) no way we aren’t getting this house, right? Well, we didn’t get the house. And I was super disappointed, and I was just like I don’t want to keep doing this,” added Dayna. When their offer was rejected, they decided building a new home was the way to go.
“I have friends who are 0-for-9 or 0-for-10 in trying to buy houses. So, we decided you know what, we would rather pivot and our realtor said have we considered building and we said let’s look at it,” Kyle said. Building a new home right now can also be a challenge. Costs for materials are going up, particularly for lumber.
CHEERS!
- SZM Family