This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: the Podcast” features Dave Clark, the executive associate dean and professor of economics at Marquette University.
Clark, who consults with the Wisconsin Realtors Association on the group’s monthly reports, shares insights on the latest data and trends in the state’s real estate and housing market.
“It’s clear that we are not keeping pace in terms of sales with August of last year, and even on a year-to-date basis — looking at the first eight months of 2022 versus the first eight months of 2021 — we are below that pace of last year,” he said.
Still, he notes last year saw record home sales in Wisconsin, so it’s no surprise that this year is failing to keep pace with 2021. Clark discusses several factors playing into that change, such as higher mortgage rates and limited supply of homes.
“We’ve been experiencing the tight supply for quite some time, and that’s been pushing prices up,” he said. “And it has been certainly keeping sales volume down, at least over the last year.”
He also explains the effect of inflation expectations on mortgage rates, the perspective of lenders on the current landscape. WRA’s August report shows the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose 83.8 percent over the year, from 2.84 percent in August 2021 to 5.22 percent in August of this year.
“We still have a classic seller’s market, but it will begin to soften that market the longer those rates stay as high as they are,” he said.
Listen to the podcast below, sponsored by UW-Madison:
