Wisconsin Real Estate & Wisconsin Living presented by First Weber Group

A Culture  of Giving

Giving is a large part of the First Weber culture, as evidenced by the formation of the First Weber Foundation in 2005 which, since inception, has donated over $600,000 to a variety of Wisconsin charities.  Our offices get involved in a wide variety of charities and community service projects and here are just a few recent examples we’d like to share.

Souper Tuesdays for the Berlin Food Pantry

This spring, members of First Weber’s Berlin office took turns making soup for lunch, calling their community service project “Souper Tuesdays”. Each week, 2 people made soup and dessert and collected $5 from everyone. A cookbook sale also added to the total. To date, a total of $325.00 was raised to donate to the Berlin Food Pantry. That amount will be matched through the Feinstein Challenge. Alan Shawn Feinstein has pledged $1,000,000 to communities that raise money or collect canned foods from March 1st thru April 30th. There is a minimum of $250 and a maximum of $35,000 that can be collected thru his organization.

Attached is a photo of the check presentation.

From left to right: Billi Kaufman, Scott Bauer, Reverend Jo Ann Schoblaski, Gi Hietpas, Susan Hietpas, Jan Ewald, Jeanne Fitzgerald, Sheri Irish, Pat Bartol

Nice job, Berlin gang!

Volunteering at the Samaritan House of Marshfield

The entire Marshfield office recently volunteered at the Samaritan House of Marshfield’s weekly dinner for the less fortunate. Provided were desserts, juice and milk and the office also assisted in preparing, serving and cleaning up after the meal. Everyone enjoyed the experience so much they are planning on going back at least once per quarter.

First Weber Group believes it is important to get involved in local causes to make a difference, get to know people and simply help out.  We hope you enjoyed learning just a little about First Weber agents doing good deeds. When you need a Wisconsin real estate broker, why not work with one who is involved in the community.  Thanks for reading the First Weber Wisconsin real estate & Wisconsin living blog. If you have real estate questions or needs, please contact First Weber. There’s bound to be a First Weber office near you.

As with Metro Milwaukee , the South Central Wisconsin area and Wisconsin real estate as a whole, sales are rebounding extremely well this first quarter.  So it is also with Southwestern WI rural land sales. Jay Frazier, Rural Property Pro in Southwest Wisconsin, reports that land sales seemed to have turned the same corner, but going further that direction with land showing a 10% price increase compared to a year ago.

Up 114% and prices up 10%

Total land  transactions in the first quarter of 2101 in Southwestern Wisconsin (counties of Grant, Richland, Crawford, Iowa, Lafayette, Sauk and Vermon) are up 114%

Below is a chart from Jay detailing the sales by county.

 Land Sales Grant County

# sales 1st quarter of 2012: 9 vs 2011 sales: 5

Price per acre 2012: $3,346 vs $4,663 2011

Land Sales Layfayette County

# sales 1st quarter of 2012: 3 vs 2011 sales: 6

Price per acre 2012: $6,053 vs $3,160 2011

Land Sales Richland County

# sales 1st quarter of  2012: 9 vs 2011 sales: 1

Price per acre 2012: $2,501 vs $2,331 2011

Land Sales Sauk County

# sales 2012: 13 vs 2011 sales: 4

Price per acre 2012: $3,255 vs $3,595 2011

Land Sales Crawford County

# sales 1st quarter of 2012: 2 vs 2011 sales: 1

Price per acre 2012: $1,947 vs $2,088 2011

Land Sales Vernon County

# sales 1st quarter of 2012: 3 vs 2011 sales: 2

Price per acre 2012: $3,857 vs $2,869 2011

Land Sales Iowa County

# sales 1st quarter of 2012: 6 vs 2011 sales: 2

Price per acre 2012: $3,844 vs $3,725 2011

Per Jay’s research, rural land in WI may have turned a corner.  See much more details at his Southwest Wisconsin real estate blog. You can search for rural land for sale in Wisconsin at Jay’s site or firstweber.com.

 Jay Frazier, First Weber Group Muscoda

Thanks for reading the First Weber Wisconsin real estate and Wisconsin living blog for information on rural land sales in Southwest Wisconsin

Chart courtesy of Jay Frazier

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Wisconsin home sales continue to improve, with March sales being up 25% over March 2011, according to the Wisconsin REALTORS Association.  South Central WI and Metro Milwaukee real estate also showed large growth in home sales.

While the milder winter may have contributed a bit to the growth in sales, it is important to note that home sales have been on the rise in Wisconsin for the last nine months.  All areas of Wisconsin have seen great improvement.

Take a look at home sales and prices by Wisconsin region during the first quarter compared to last year’s first quarter:

Southeastern Wisconsin (Kenosha, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Sheboygan, Walworth, Washington and Waukesha Counties)

Sales up 20.8%, median price down 4.2%

South Central WI (Columbia, Crawford, Dane, Dodge, Grant, Green, Iowa, Jefferson, Lafayette, Richland, Rock, Sauk Counties)

Sales up 19.8%, median price down 3.4%
Northeast WI (Brown, Calumet, Door, Fond du Lac, Green Lake, Kewaunee, Manitowoc, Marinette, Menomonee, Oconto, Outagamie, Shawno, Waupaca, Winnebago Counties)

Sales up 26.3%, median price up 2.7%

Central WI (Adams, Clark, Juneau, Marathon, Marquette, Portage, Waushara, Wood counties)

Sales up 14%, median price up .2%

Northwoods Wisconsin (Ashland, Barron, Bayfield, Burnett, Douglas, Florence, Forest, Iron, Langlade, Lincoln, Oneida, Polk, Price, Rusk, Sawyer, Taylor, Vilas, Washburn counties)

Sales up 12.4%, median price down 6.6%

Months of inventory is down, affordability index also down

In addition to increased sales over the last nine months, months of inventory is down and the affordability index is also down by 20 points from last month.  Make sure your home is priced just right and presents very well to take advantage of this increased buyer activity!  To see what homes have sold for in your neck of Wisconsin, please do a sold search at firstweber.com.  (Because of Multiple listing service rules, some MLS systems require yo to register for a free myFirstWeber account before viewing sold data. )

Thanks for reading the First Weber Wisconsin real estate & Wisconsin living blog for an update on the Wisconsin housing market. To find a First Weber agent or office, or search for Wisconsin real estate for sale, please search firstweber.com

For the ninth month, home sales in Dane County and the entire South Central MLS area are up.  MLS-wide (including Columbia,  Dane, Dodge, Grant, Green, Iowa, Rock and Sauk Counties) sales are up 24% this March compared with this time last year. In Dane County alone, March sales are up 25%. (source SCWMLS)  Metro Milwaukee also reported similar gains in real estate sales.

In several South Central Wisconsin counties, March sales are the best they’ve been in three years:

Columbia County   

March 2012  sales: 47

March 2011 sales: 30

March 2010 sales: 43

Dane County

March 2012 sales: 433

March 2011 sales: 346

March 2010 sales: 380

Dodge County

March 2012 sales: 39

March 2011 sales: 33

March 2010 sales: 48

Grant County

March 2012 sales: 18

March 2011 sales: 23

March 2010 sales: 24

Green County

March 2012 sales: 31

March 2011 sales: 24

march 2010 sales; 21

Iowa County

March 2012 sales: 19

March 2011 sales: 7

March 2010 sales: 12

Rock County

March 2012 sales: 146

March 2011 sales: 121

March 2010 sales: 153

Sauk County

March 2012 sales: 52

March 2011 sales: 46

March 2010 sales: 54

  Opportunity awaits for both Wisconsin home buyers and home sellers.  Buyers, interest rates are still low and in general, prices are on the low side.  Sellers, the buyer activity is up. Take advantage of the activity in the market to truly make your home stand out and sell.  Check your competition and talk with your agent.  Take another hard look at your home’s price.   Your goal when listing was to sell.  The opportunity to attract active buyers is now.

To see what homes are selling for in your area, please do a sold property search at firstweber.com.  To check out your competition currently for sale, please search firstweber.com. Go to a few open houses (find WI open houses here) to really check out the homes that are competing with yours!

Thanks for reading the First Weber Wisconsin real estate & Wisconsin living blog for information on South Central WI and Dane County real estate market.  For assistance, please contact First Weber.

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Throughout Wisconsin, home sales are on the rise. February, 2012 was the eighth month of rising sales in Wisconsin, with a 15% increase over last February.  Home sale prices were very moderately down, just 1.7%. Sales started increasing last summer and thankfully, have continued their upward pace. The great spring weather helped. If you are a seller, do everything in your power to take advantage of buyer activity. If you are a buyer, you may have more competition.  Many areas of the country have seen a shift in the market. It will make its way to Wisconsin.

Each region in Wisconsin performed well in February, with Southeast Wisconsin leading the over 20% increase.

Sales by reqion: (source WRA)

Southeast Wisconsin (Kenosha, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Sheboygan, Walworth, Waukesha and Walworth Counties)

Sales up 22.6%, median price down 4.1%

South Central Wisconsin (Columbia, Crawford, Dane, Dodge, Grant, Green, Iowa, Jefferson, Lafayette, Richland, Rock and Sauk Counties)

Sales up 12.9%, no change in median price

Northeast Wisconsin (Brown, Calumet, Door, Fond du Lac, Green Lake, Kewaunee, Manitowoc, Marinette, Menominee, Oconto, Outagamie, Shawno, Waupaca, Winnebago Counties)

Sales up 16.3%, median price up 1.3%

Central Wisconsin (Adams, Clark, Juneau, Marathon, Marquette, Portage, Waushara and Wood Counties)

Sales up 6.3%, median price down 2.5%

Northwoods, Wisconsin (Ashland, Barron, Bayfield, Burnett, Douglas, Florence, Forest, Iron, Langlade, Lincoln, Oneida, Polk, Rusk, Sawyer, Taylor, Vilas and Washburn Counties)

Sales up 1.8%, median price down 5%

Another interesting trend is the number of new listings, the number of unsold homes on the market and the months supply of inventory are all down.  Combine this with a higher rate of sales and we should begin to see a more balanced market emerge.

For information on specific regions of Wisconsin, here is an update on South Central WI and on Metro Milwaukee real estate sales.

Thank you for reading the First Weber Wisconsin real estate & Wisconsin living blog.

To see Wisconsin real estate for sale, please see firstweber.com where you can also search Wisconsin sold property data to see what that house down the street sold for. In some areas, a free MyFirstWeber account may be needed to view sold data due to MLS rules.

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