December 2021 & Year in Review – Housing Market Update

NATIONALLY

• Summary: Existing home sales increased 8.5% in December 2021 compared to last year (December 2020), but decreased 4.6% since last month (November 2021).

The most recent monthly report released from the National Association of REALTORS®, was entitled, “Annual Existing-Home Sales Hit Highest Mark Since 2006,” by Quintin Simmons. The following bullet points are highlights.

Existing-Home Sales

• In 2021, existing-home sales totaled 6.12 million – an increase of 8.5% from the prior year and the highest annual level since 2006.
• In December, existing-home sales slowed 4.6% from November.
• Existing-home sales in the Midwest slid 1.3% in December, a 2.6% decline from a year ago.
• The median price in the Midwest was $256,900, a 10.0% climb from December 2020.

**be sure to also check out this release by NAR, too: “Existing-Home Sales Reach Highest Annual Level Since 2006 but Weaken in December 2021,” by Michael Hyman.

STATEWIDE

• Summary: The state of Wisconsin had a record year in 2021, thanks to the market strength of our Southeastern region.

The Wisconsin REALTORS® Association, released their monthly market report with the headline, “Strong December Sales Result in a Record Year for Wisconsin Housing.” Here are some key takeaways:

December 2021 Home Sales Report

• “December home sales rose 0.4% over sales in December 2020,”
• “total closings for 2021 [were pushed] to 89,936, which is 0.7% higher than the previous record established in 2020.”
• The December median price was $236,850, which is 10.2% higher than the price 12 months earlier. On an annual basis, the median price for all of 2021 was $240,000, which is $20,000, or 9.1%, higher than the 2020 median price.”
• “closings [went] up 4.4% in the Southeast region,”
• “The strength of the heavily urbanized Southeast region, especially Milwaukee County, led to our record sales in 2021.”
• “The state inventory continued to fall. New listings dropped 15.4%, which pushed total listings to just 15,037 in December, a 12.9% slide from 12 months earlier.”
• “Mortgage rates have started to inch up, with the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage increasing from the record low of 2.68% in December 2020 to 3.10% in December 2021.”

“We sold more than twice as many homes as came on the market in December, which is why home prices increased by just over 10% since December of last year. However, there have been signs that home price appreciation has begun to moderate in recent months, which is welcome news for buyers looking to buy in 2022.”

Michael Theo, President & CEO, Wisconsin REALTORS® Association

LOCAL MARKET

• Summary: Our metro-Milwaukee area generally saw a decline in new listings, but more sold homes in December 2021 compared to last year. This was mostly true of the Southeastern-most tri-county corner of the state, where my market is located (*aside from Racine County that saw a slight dip in closed sales), as well.
  • the Lake Geneva – Delavan – Williams Bay hyperlocal market saw double digit increases in new listings and closed sales, but a decrease in median sales price last month, compared to December 2020, evening things out for the year.

Below are the Local Market Reports, by MetroMLS, for the Counties of Kenosha, Racine, and Walworth, as well as the Lake Geneva-Delavan-Williams Bay area, and their monthly blog post called Market Reports: December 2021, by Dan Zielinski of FlexMLS, reflecting our hyperlocal multiple listing service area based out of Metro-Milwaukee.

MARKET REPORTS: December 2021

Active listings decreased 13.5% and sold listings went up 2.4% compared to this time last year. The Months of Supply of Inventory experienced a decrease, falling 15.5% compared to last December.

by Dan Zielinski | January 12, 2021 | Metro MLS, FlexMLS