Homes sales down in Q1 across county, state

The number of home sales from January through March remained stunted across the region, according to the Realtors Association of South Central Wisconsin. Homes sales were down 21.5% in Dane County, 18.8% in Sauk County, 15.2% in Rock County, 25.7% in Green Lake/Marquette/Waushara counties, and 21.6% overall.

The year-to-date median sales price for homes in Dane County has stayed resilient at $390,000, confirming that lack of supply is the major factor in sales reduction.

New listing activity slightly outpaced sales in the first quarter of 2023, with March seeing the largest increase in inventory — 1,336 new listings vs. 987 sales. However, inventory remains low overall. Dane County currently has about 0.6 months’ supply of homes on the market. A balanced market is considered three to five months, which is the number of months it would take to sell all the existing listings at the current pace.

Interest rates as of March 30 were 6.32% for a 30-year fixed mortgage. Over the last several weeks, declining rates have brought borrowers back to the market, but as the spring homebuying season gets underway low inventory remains a challenge for prospective buyers.