Wisconsin Real Estate Market Housing Report for June 2022

June 2022 at a glance

• Declining state inventories continued to hinder sales while driving home prices higher. Existing home sales fell 11.1% in June 2022 compared to June 2021, and the median price rose to $280,000, a 9.4% increase over that same period.
• June is routinely the strongest month for sales in the state, accounting for 11.6% of annual closings in a typical year.
• Sales in the first half of 2022 were 6.9% below the pace for the first six months of 2021, and the median price was up 10.2% to $260,000
• Inventories continued to slide. New listings were down 13.5%, and total listings for the state were down 14.4% in June compared to their levels 12 months earlier.
• Wisconsin continues to have a solid seller’s market, with months of available supply down 9.7% to just 2.8 months of supply in June 2022. Every region of the state had months of supply well below the six-month benchmark that characterizes a balanced home market. The tightest markets were in metropolitan areas, which had just 2.7 months of supply in June 2022, down from three months a year earlier. Similarly, micropolitan areas, which are counties with a population between 10,000 and just under 50,000, saw their inventories slip to 2.8 months of supply from 3.2 months of supply a year earlier. Only rural counties recorded an increase in supply, and that increase was marginal, rising from 3.5 months of available supply in June 2021 to 3.7 months in June 2022.
• Homes continue to move at a brisk pace, with average days on the market falling 11.8% over the last 12 months, to just 60 days in June 2022.
• Affordability was down by significant margins in June due to rising mortgage rates, rapidly appreciating home prices and unchanged median family income in the state over the past 12 months. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 5.52% in June, up from 2.98% a year earlier, which is an increase of 254 basis points. The Wisconsin Housing Affordability Index measures the percent of the median-priced home that a buyer with median family income qualifies to purchase, assuming a 20% down payment and the remaining balance financed with a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. The index indicates the qualified buyer could purchase 127% of the median-priced home in June 2022, but that is down from 182% just one year earlier.