Home sales fell last month in most of the state but northern Wisconsin bucked the trend.
According to the Wisconsin Realtors’ Association sales in the north were up in July compared to the year before by almost 12 percent. Meanwhile statewide figures show a drop of about two and a half percent.
Marquette University economist Dave Clark says housing market recovery may have taken longer up north because of the influence of the second home market.
“So what tends to happen when you’re looking at that data for the northern part of the state, is sales will lag behind the metropolitan areas coming out of a recession, and prices will be pretty volatile.”
Median prices in July held steady, but are up 11 percent for the year as a whole in the northern region, compared to a three percent drop statewide.
The sales picture for the year to date is a little less rosy: home sales in northern Wisconsin are down about three percent compared to 2013. That’s still slightly better than the statewide average of at least 4 percent fewer sales.
Clark says lower numbers this year still indicate a solid performance, considering 2013 was a very good year for home sales.
