Should You Worry About Rising Interest Rates?

Should you be concerned about the impact rising interest rates will have on the current real estate market?

As you probably know, over the last couple of months, interest rates have been on the rise. Should you worry about these increasing rates? 

Over the past couple of months, fixed-rate mortgages have gone up just over 0.5%. Rates can be as high as 4.25% and as low as 3.5%.

In real terms, this rise in rates means that if you took out a 30-year mortgage on a $250,000 home, you would pay as much as $100 more each month and pay an additional $35,000 over the life of the mortgage. That is a sizable chunk, so some people are nervous that increasing rates will slow down the market.

Our market is not going to slow down anytime soon.

However, the market is not about to slow down anytime soon. Why? Historically speaking, these rates are still incredibly low. Back in the 90s, rates were as high as 10%. In the 80s, interest rates were at 16%! As you can see, these 4.25% rates are still incredibly low.

What does that mean for you? 

As a buyer, these low rates create a great opportunity for you to buy an amazing home, which is way better than renting.

If you want to sell your home, you are in a great position to do so quickly and get top dollar.

If you have any other questions about interest rates and our current market, give me a call. I would be happy to help you!

Your Local Real Estate Market Update

How did the 2016 real estate market do? What can you expect from the 2017 market? 

Today, I’ll go over a quick recap of the 2016 real estate market, as well as a 2017 real estate market update.

In 2016, listings were up 8% from 2015. Interestingly, the number of listings decreased by more than 4%. What does that mean? Inventory is shrinking and prices are going up. 

In fact, the average sales price went up by 3.6% to just over $231,000, and the average days on the market went from 75 days in 2015 to 68 days in 2016.

Now is a great time to be in the real estate market.

What does that mean for the 2017 real estate market? 

If you’ve been thinking about selling your home, now is the time to get on the market. Interest rates went up last year and they are expected to go up a few more times in 2017, so get on the market while rates are still low and buyer demand is still high.

As a buyer, you might want to jump into the market before rates go up and your buying power goes down.

If you have any other questions about our current market, just give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

Making Sense of Milwaukee’s Recent Real Estate Numbers

There are many great Metro area homes for sale. Click here to perform full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here to contact us for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call us at (262) 797-6453 or (262) 798-1162 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

The new year is in full swing, so today we wanted to give you a quick market update for the Milwaukee area. In a recent article in The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, we saw some great numbers: both home sales and the average price of a home sale are on the rise.

Overall, in the Milwaukee metro area, home sales increased by 14% increase from January 2015 to January 2016. That’s a total of 933 homes sold in January this year, compared to 820 sold last January. Some counties saw an even greater increase, as Washington County saw a 24.7% increase in sales. This big increase has a lot to do with the mild weather we’ve been seeing this winter, along with the currently low mortgage rates.

The average sales price in Milwaukee also saw a considerable increase from last year, with a 7.1% increase throughout the metro area. Washington County saw an 8.7% increase and Ozaukee County saw a 4.2% increase.

Right now, we are experiencing one of the lowest inventory levels we’ve had in the last 5 years. If you’ve been thinking of selling, you want to get your home on the market earlier than the spring. If you have any questions for us, we would love to help you out. Acting soon is of great importance whether you are thinking of buying or selling. We would love to hear from you!

How to Respond to an Offer on Your Home

There are many great Metro area homes for sale. Click here to perform full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here to contact us for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call us at (262) 797-6453 or (262) 798-1162 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

Today I wanted  to answer a question I’ve been getting quite frequently. A lot of sellers have been asking me about how quickly they should respond to offers on their homes. Normally, when an offer is written, a buyer is going to want to get an answer pretty quickly, usually within 24-48 hours, unless it’s a weekend. 

The quicker you respond to an offer as a seller, the better chance you have of putting the deal together. What are your options? If you like the offer, go ahead and accept it. If the offer is not acceptable to you, we strongly recommend making a counter-offer, so you still have a chance at getting a deal done, at least more so than if you would have declined the offer.

If you have any questions about this process and what your options are, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We can’t wait to hear from you!

How Is Our Market Improving this Year?

There are many great Metro area homes for sale. Click here to perform full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here to contact us for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call us at (262) 797-6453 or (262) 798-1162 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.
 

The fall is here and we are ⅔ of the way through the year. Today I thought I would give you a quick market update. I’ve been looking at some of the latest numbers and in August 2015, sales in the metro area were up 7% from this time last August! We now have 1,644 homes that have sold so far this year, as opposed to 1,524 at the same time last year. 

I was also looking at the year-to-date numbers, and noticed an even bigger trend. Compared to where we were at this point in 2014, sales are up 16.5%! There have been close to 1,500 more sales this year than last year. At the same time, inventory is declining. There are about 8,523 single-family homes for sale right now on our MLS, down 8% from 9,200 last year.

What does this mean? Well, more people are buying due to confidence in the economy and the fact that interest rates have remained extremely low. If you’re thinking about buying, I would consider making a move now due to the fact that you can lock in an interest rate on a 30-year mortgage for less than 4%, which was unheard of in the past. 

Rates may rise very soon, so we recommend taking advantage of conditions now and making your move while money is cheap. 

If you have any questions for us about the market or how you can succeed in it, give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you!

What You Should Know About Greater Milwaukee Real Estate

There are many great Metro area homes for sale. Click here to perform full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here to contact us for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call us at (262) 797-6453 or (262) 798-1162 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

Today I'll be updating you on what's happening in our Greater Milwaukee real estate market as we head into the summer of 2015. My goal is that you take this information and use it to your own advantage when you're buying or selling real estate. 

• Home sales have risen 13.5% over last year, and in Waukesha County, sales were up by nearly 20%.
• Sales in Ozaukee County rose by 22%, and Washington County sales increased by 13%.
• Average sales prices are also rising, and this is partly due to less foreclosure sales in our market
• Homes have appreciated anywhere from 1-4%, depending on the neighborhood that you live in

Overall, now is a great time to be buying or selling in this market. Buyer demand is peaking, and affordability is also very high, so both buyer and sellers have incentives to get into this market. If you need assistance when you're buying or selling this year, please don't hesitate to contact me. I'd be more than happy to help you.

Quarterly Market Snapshot for Milwaukee

There are many great Milwaukee area homes for sale. Click here to perform full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here to contact us for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call us at (262) 797-6453 or (262) 798-1162 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

Many folks in our area have been asking whether our market currently favors buyers or sellers. The short answer is neither party has a particular advantage in our current market. Here are the numbers:

Homes available: 9,216 (1,524 homes sold in August)

Inventory: 6 months (Perfectly balanced market)

Average home price: Projected to rise 1%-3%

Average list-to-sale ratio: 97% (Up 1% since last year)

Days on market: 72 days (Down from around 100 days last year)

Interest rates: 4%-4.5% for fixed-rates, 2%-3% for adjustable rates

What does it all mean? For one, we have an incredibly healthy market here in Milwaukee. Prices are rising at a steady, sustainable rate and there are still plenty of available homes for buyers to choose from. Additionally, sellers who get their home ready to sell and price it right are getting what they ask for. All of this is great news as we head into the Fall months for real estate.

If you're interested in buying or selling in this great market, don't hesitate to reach out to us. We'd be pleased to give you a hand!

Real Estate Update for the 1st Quarter of our Milwaukee Market

There are many great Milwaukee area homes for sale. Click here to perform full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here top contact us for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call us at (262) 797-6453 or (262) 798-1162 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

First Quarter Real Estate Market Update for Milwaukee

As April comes to a close, I thought it would be a good opportunity for me to explain what has happened in our greater Milwaukee market in regards to real estate. 

After researching some MLS statistics, it was interesting to see that sales from 2013 to 2014 were actually down a little bit. In total, we have seen about a 10% decrease in sales in the Milwaukee area. 

Inventory has remained largely the same from last year, but it still remains relatively low with just a 3 month supply of homes. This lack of inventory is most pronounced in the suburban homes that are in the price range of $200-$400K. 

The good news is that homes are selling in every price range, even the high end homes. 

Interest rates also remain low, with some 15-30 year fixed rate plans as low as 3.75-4.5%. However, these are expected to go up to 5.5% by the end of the year, so now is your opportunity to buy a home affordably.

Because of the improving weather here in Milwaukee, you can expect to see 60% of all sales occur between the 2nd and 3rd quarter of this year. 

If you're thinking of selling, now would be the time to list your home because you can expect an increase of 20-25% in the number of listings available. If you're buying, there will be a lot of properties to choose from. 

If you have any questions about the Milwaukee real estate market or what you can do to capitalize when you're selling or buying, please contact us and we would be glad to help you.

Thanks for tuning in! Expect more updates throughout the year on our Milwaukee real estate market!