Flex Quick Tip
May 10, 2012
April Market Reports

Milwaukee

Sometimes the best answers aren't right under your nose. For example, the most popular market indicator is home prices. But prices are what we call a lagging indicator, because they reflect closed sales. Leading indicators are forward-looking. Watch activity related to list price received at sale, days on market and months supply of inventory to see how sellers might be regaining their pricing power. Favorable supply-demand trends may be ticking away from the buyer for the first time in years. Moral of the story: Price is but a single picture in the gallery.

New Listings in the Milwaukee region decreased 5.9 percent to 2,427. Pending Sales were up 1.7 percent to 1,157. Inventory levels shrank 11.4 percent to 9,959 units.

Prices remained under pressure. The Median Sales Price decreased 3.3 percent to $151,500. Days on Market was up 2.3 percent to 117 days. The supply-demand balance stabilized as Months Supply of Inventory was down 28.0 percent to 9.4 months.

When monitoring residential real estate activity, it is always important to keep tabs on the overall economy and job growth. Preliminary Q1-2012 GDP growth came in at 2.2 percent, which, while disappointing to some observers and slower than Q4-2011, still signals economic expansion and not contraction. Expedited bank processing and easing lending standards are also encouraging developments.

All data for the market reports comes from the Multiple Listing Service, Inc. and is powered by 10K Research and Marketing. You can follow this link: http://www.metromls.com/support/Market_Updates/index.html or visit www.metromls.com.

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