The dog days of August have come and gone and locally August was no dog. Hayward was busy with tourists, part-time owners and want-to-be owners not to mention us regulars. There are always lots of reports to read when it comes to real estate; I have a couple of interesting sidebars below.
Locally August home sales in Sawyer County, per the Multiple Listing Service, topped 2009 by 30% and the average sale price rocketed to $245,776 from $156,612 in 2009. Average days on market in August of this year was 193 vs. 313 a year ago. The percent of sale price to list price stayed the same at 91% and the average size home purchased was similar at around 1600 sq. ft. This accounts for all on-water and off water residential homes.
The National Association of Realtors reported that July was the largest percentage of decline on record for sales of existing single-family homes and condos. In August those sales rebounded 7.6% to a seasonably adjusted rate of 4.13 million which beat the analyst’s expectations.
Nationally, the resale of homes has been down nearly 20% in the past year. The inventory of unsold homes on the market fell a little to 3.98 million which is about an 11.6 month supply at the current sales pace. Median sales nationally fell slightly to $178,600.
According to a report from Fairway Independent Mortgage, home ownership is still the goal and dream of about 72% of Americans. That is a decline from the past but the interest level remains very high. In a similar poll 27% of renters say they are not interested in buying. Of the renters who do plan to buy, most are putting that off for at least two years.
Another trend that we see, locally as well as nationally, is that people are trending away from the “mcmansions” and are planning homes in the 800 to 1400 sq. ft. range. Personally, I must admit that I too would consider a much smaller home the next time around – at my age I had better start searching. Anybody know a good realtor?
Have a great weekend and remember Life is a Gift…Live It!
Gary Nathan
Amanda Mavis
Woodland Developments & Realty
15563 Railroad St.
Hayward, WI 54843
715-699-4040
nathan@garynathan.com
http://www.garynathan.com/
