A home for sale in Appleton, April 19, 2023. PC: Fox 11 Online
(WTAQ-WLUK) — Those in Wisconsin looking to buy a new home are facing tough competition among other buyers, while existing home sales continue to fall, although not as much as previous months.
That’s according to the most recent Wisconsin Realtor’s Association report.
“We’re kind of in the three-ish hundreds range. It’s honestly very competitive,” said potential buyer Dylan Diersen. “Got beaten out several times and we’ve only been looking for two weeks.”
Jennifer Sunstrom with the Realtors Association of Northeast Wisconsin said the number of people looking to buy a home remains strong heading into their busy summer months, but they’re fighting over the same homes, leading to frustration.
“What we are seeing nationally, and even here locally in Northeast Wisconsin, is that you’ve had an increase in the number of people who want badly to be homeowners, getting on the sidelines and waiting,” Sunstrom said. “Either it’s because they want interest rates to come down, or the interest rates are making a difference in whether they can afford a home.”
That struggle is seemingly targeting the $300,000 range for homes, with potential buyers facing up to 15 competing offers on a home in the Fox Valley.
“Friends, family, other people we talk to in our local market are definitely having the same kind of struggle,” Diersen explained. “I have connections and friends across the country and it’s not uncommon for them to have the same thing out in Colorado and stuff like that.”
The Realtors Association is looking for a solution, and Sunstrom said putting more homes on the market isn’t enough.
“The truth of the matter is that we have been significantly underbuilding housing to meet our needs for the past 10 years. And we are still underbuilding. Every year that goes on, that hole kind of gets a little deeper and deeper,” she told us.
Diersen has this tip for those struggling to find a home on the market:
“You got to really be aggressive about getting it in. Work with the right agent, be ready to write an offer, and not kind of dilly dally so much,” he said.
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