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Walworth County home sales up, but what's next?

WALWORTH COUNTY — While they’re not ready to be boldly optimistic, area real estate agents are at least mildly encouraged by sales increases this year in a troubled housing market.

“Interest rates are great, and it’s a perfect time to buy, but the big problem is the lack of jobs and job security,” said Vicki Kruse of Century 21 Hart & Kruse in Beloit. “And even those people who are in a position to purchase a home are finding it tougher to get loans. It’s still an extremely tough market.”

First-quarter home sales in Walworth County increased from 137 to 174 this year, according to the Wisconsin Realtors Association.

Sales gains this year are attributed largely to the creation of federal tax credits that expired April 30. Realtors now are keeping their fingers crossed that the credits provided enough of a boost to sustain growth in the housing market the rest of the year.

Initial signs, however, are not promising. With the tax credit expired, home sales nationally plummeted in May by a record 33 percent. Economists predicted a decline of 19 percent.

In Walworth County, sales have improved dramatically this year.

“Compared to last year, from January through May, we’ve seen a 50 percent increase, and home prices have gone up, including 67 percent in April,” said Jessica Johnson, president of the Lakes Area Realtors Association in Elkhorn, which covers Walworth and parts of Racine and Kenosha counties. “We don’t have as many new listings as last year, but our second-home market has picked up tremendously, and that’s very promising. Last year, the second-home market was the hardest hit, but this year we’ve sold several million-dollar properties on the lakefront.”

That bodes well for the county’s June sales figures.

“Considering we still have a lot of tax-credit deals to finish by June 30, next month’s numbers could be record-setting,” Johnson said. “New construction is slim to none, but we have a lot of investors looking, and we’ve had a lot of foreclosures. I think the signs are promising, despite the tax-credit numbers, because even though we saw a 58-percent increase in sales for April, we also went up in January and February, and those are our slowest months.”

Read the full story in the June 27, 2010 e-edition of The Janesville Messenger, HERE.