Keeping a close eye on inventory as we work our way through the COVID 19 Pandemic… As I mentioned in my video earlier this week inventory did completely stabilize in March after a huge surge of inventory in February and during the first two weeks of March.

 

Below is a close up of those specific numbers.

As you can see January we were down in new listings and in February we were up by over 16% and most of us were pushing sellers to list now due to market activity and outlook.  Interest rates remained low and all indications were that it was going to be a continued sellers market. The first two weeks of March remained the same and then when the pandemic crept into the midwest and travel restrictions became part of our world new listings slowed down significantly.

 

Below is a close up of the inventory trends continue to be positive. Average price is up and Pending transactions is up; the only thing slihtly down despite the surge in February of new listing is new inventory and that is down by only 4%.

 

 

The last indicator I want to show you  is the 5 year average: despite the speed bump we may here hit short term with the COVID 19 virus we are still on the upwards end of a 5 year market trend going up as you can see below. So, even if we have a short term inventory crunch where new listings flooding the market is delayed until late May; our market in Northern WI has plenty of time to “catch up”and adjust for a heavy fall.  We have to remember in the Northwoods we don’t hit full steam until June and April and May are generally our highest months of adding inventory into the marketplace.

 

 

So, what does this mean for you?

As a seller please consider the following:

• Am I living in my home or not?
• Am I high risk or not if I am living in my home and am I comfortable with people coming and going?
• Am I in the right price point to take advantage of market inventory shortages?

 

As a buyer you will want to consider the following:

• How educated about the market am I especially with lake front property?
• How soon do I want to make a decision – if inventory comes late in the year and competition is heavy do I want to risk waiting and loosing out during this tentative market time.
• How prepared am I to purchase financially during this time; am I “bullet proof”

And always remember that you should be workin with a MARKET SPECIALIST especially during tenuous times so you fully understand the market; its trends and what it means to YOU as a buyer or a seller in northern Wisconsin.