May proved to be somewhat of an anomaly when compared to recent real estate activity over the last few years. Certainly with all that is going on in this country as well as world wide, this should not surprise anyone. What is surprising is how the residential home sales in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) were affected during the month of May.
There were 21 residential home sales recorded in the MLS for May in 2019. Moving ahead to this year we see an increase to 38 sales, 17 more for a jump of 81%. Unheard of!!
In addition, we saw an increase in median price from $160,000 in 2019 to $241,000 here in 2020. That’s up 51%!! In my 51 years in the real estate business, I have never experienced numbers like this.
There are obvious and less than obvious reasons. Here are my thoughts:
- Interest rates are lower than anytime I can remember.
- Supply of available homes is very limited – low supply/high demand.
- And yes, the pandemic! It may be psychological.
- Certainly other factors like the overall strong economy these past few years.
The major increases noted above can be attributed mostly to the real estate market in Northern Door County. Here is where the big ticket homes are sold and this accounts for the dramatic increase in median price. The top 4 real estate offices in Northern Door County only sold 4 homes in May 2019 compared to 15 in May of this year.
The psychology of this may well be at least partially attributed to people wanting to get out of the big city, the big crowds with higher rates of exposure to COVID-19, and spending more time in Door County where there’s more room to roam.
Over these next months, we here at ERA Starr Realty will be watching closely for the impact any of the above factors have on the real estate markets in Door and Kewaunee Counties. We will continue to be “ALWAYS THERE FOR YOU”!