Back HomeDane County Housing Inventory Update
September 9th, 2018 by keithandkinsey
Back in March, I wrote about what makes a Buyer’s Market vs a Seller’s Market and the current housing inventory at that time. It appears the market has calmed significantly since that time and that prompted me to check the stats on current inventory. Inventory is calculated as the number of homes available on the market divided by the number of homes that sell in a month (based on the past 12 months). In March, most of Madison and the closest suburbs had an inventory of homes for sale under 2 months, and a county wide average of 1.9 months. Currently, there’s a range of 1.7 to 4.7 months of inventory across the county, with Dane County’s average at 3.5 months. This means we’re currently in a more neutral market, but it’s still widely considered a seller’s market. It’s hard to tell if this is just the typical seasonal slowdown (the number of buyers tends to taper off once kids are back in school), or if this is a sign of a shift in market cycles. Homes are still selling quickly (if the they are priced accurately) relative to a more average market, but we aren’t seeing the buyer’s frenzy of 15 offers on a single house.
Supply and demand not only varies by location, but by price range as well. It turns out there is 4.7 months of inventory in the $300,000+ price range and only 2 months of inventory in the under $300,000 range. This means buyers in the lower price ranges will continue to find themselves competing with other buyers for homes, while higher end buyers will find the market a little calmer. Homes in the lower price ranges will also continue to sell very quickly through the fall and winter months. As a result, it could be the perfect time to upgrade if you are thinking about upgrading from a starter home to a higher end home.
Here’s a list of month’s of housing inventory for the Madison area:
|
Municipality |
Months of Inventory |
| Dane County | 3.5 |
| Fitchburg | 3.0 |
| Madison | 1.7 |
| McFarland | 2.2 |
| Middleton | 4.3 |
| Monona | 3.0 |
| Mount Horeb | 4.4 |
| Oregon | 3.3 |
| Sun Prairie | 2.5 |
| Verona | 2.3 |
| Waunakee | 4.7 |
