Homes for sale in Door County, Real estate, waterfront property for sale in Sturgeon Bay, Southern Door, Fish Creek, Sister Bay, Algoma, Kewaunee

February 2020 Newsletter – Residential Property Sales

February 13, 2020 by Kathy M

With 2019 in the books, now is a good time to review the real estate markets in Door and Kewaunee Counties. For this issue, we will concentrate on residential inland properties since these sales comprise 38% of all activity in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). The second most active property category is vacant land at 21%.

Here is a breakdown of 6 distinctive areas of residential inland property sales as recorded in the MLS:

Gibraltar, Sister Bay, Ephraim, Liberty Grove, Baileys Harbor – Number of sales down from 110 in 2018 to 92 in 2019. Median price moved up slightly from $270,900 to $271,250.
Jacksonport and Village and Town of Egg Harbor – Number of sales down from 35 to 30. Median price down from $259,500 to $255,000.
Sevastopol Township – Number of sales move from 30 in 2018 to 29 in 2019. Median price increased from $235,000 to $245,000.
City of Sturgeon Bay – Sales down from 108 to 101 with median price jumping from $139,500 to $158,000.
Southern Door County – Numbers of sales down from 57 to 44. Median price increased from $175,000 to $175,750.
Kewaunee County – Number of sales decreased from 76 to 64 while median price was $124,250 in 2019 compared to $125,250 in 2018.

Overall there were 388 residential inland properties sold at a median price of $190,000. In 2018 the numbers were 442 sales at a median price of $181,000. It should be noted that these overall numbers included some properties in Brown County and other miscellaneous areas including Washington Island.

Also of note, we must recognize that we have experienced 5 straight years of ideal selling conditions. This has led to a very real shortage of available inventory of homes for sale, and consequently fewer sales in 2019 compared to 2018.

ERA Starr Realty follows these markets carefully in order to provide a level of service that is unparalleled. We are “Always There For You”.

January 2020 Newsletter – 2019 in Review

January 17, 2020 by Kathy M

December finished off the decade with another exceptional year for real estate in the Door-Kewaunee real estate markets.

2019 completed a 5 year surge in market activity that saw record sales in real estate activity for Northeast Wisconsin. We had been crawling out of the real estate bust which peaked in 2008, but 2015 started a climb that saw sales and values increase dramatically.

The best measure of values can be found in reviewing Median Price over a number of years. In 2009 the median price for real estate sales for Door and Kewaunee Counties was $130,000. Median price in 2019 jumped to $160,000. That’s a solid increase of 23%!

Plug that increase into the increase in overall market activity and property owners have experienced a very solid uptick in the value of property held through this timeframe.

In 2009 there were 598 sales recorded in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). For the last 4 years beginning with 2016 we have experienced over 1,000 property sales per year. That’s almost a 70% climb in number of properties sold. Here is the reason why we have been experiencing a shortage of available homes for sale locally and really throughout the country.

As we move into this new decade, the immediate future for the real estate industry looks very good. As stated above, the biggest problem is availability of properties for sale. Builders are extremely busy and have not been able to keep up with the demand, so sales of existing homes provide the majority of available inventory. This means that home values will hold strong.

Excellent home mortgage interest rates remain very low and money is readily available. Coupled with very low unemployment and a strong economy, the outlook for 2020 is quite bright for the Door and Kewaunee County real estate markets.

ERA Starr Realty has been carefully following these markets since 1954. Our 3 brokers and 22 professional sales associates strive to provide up-to-date information to our customers and clients. We are “Always There For You!”

August 2019 Newsletter: Year-to-Date Review

August 20, 2019 by Kathy M

July 2019 continued to reflect a very strong real estate market in Door and Kewaunee Counties. This extends a trend that started in 2015 and has been consistently strong over the last few years.

The year-to-date (Jan-July) number of sales and median price for the last 6 years is reflected below:

Year	No. of Sales	Median Price
2014	66	$127,000
2015	97	$145,000
2016	109	$136,000
2017	107	$154,000
2018	113	$160,000
2019	109	$150,000

As usual, the majority of sales consist of residential homes. In comparing residential home sales in 2018 vs 2019 we find a moderate decrease in median price along with a moderate decrease in number of units sold.

The decrease in number of units sold can be attributed to lack of inventory. We have seen this dynamic evolve over the last few years. Typically, limited supply will lead to higher prices. Not the case here. In reviewing sales data, we find that the strongest sector of the housing market involves lower and median priced homes. For Door and Kewaunee Counties, low and median price can be defined as $75,000 to $175,000.

The overall residential inland home median price through the first 6 months of 2019 for the MLS was $170,000 which is 10% lower than the $189,500 in 2018.

Median price for the City of Sturgeon Bay remained the same at $141,000.

Kewaunee County dropped 10% from $125,700 last year to $113,500 this year.

Residential shore home sales decreased a moderate 5% moving from $380,900 in 2018 to $375,000 here in 2019.

ERA Starr Realty continues to lead the MLS in number of transactions for the first 7 months of 2019. Our 2 offices completed 223 transactions while the 2^nd leading agency checked in with 141. As always, our agents are: “Always There For You!”

July 2019 Newsletter – Market Update

July 18, 2019 by Kathy M

June polished off the first half of 2019 in fine style. Sales remained strong, volume was good, and the outlook for the remainder of the year is positive.

The major indicators for the health of the real estate industry for any area are: Sales Volume, Number of Sales, and Median Price. The Door County MLS capsules these indicators for the several different markets in Door and Kewaunee Counties. In this report all numbers reflect the cumulative activity for both counties and compare them for the month of June in 2018 and 2019.

June 2018 showed 103 sales for a total volume of $25.0 million. Here in 2019, the number of sales increased to 116 and volume was up at $26.3 million. That’s a 13% increase in sales and a 5% jump in volume.

Median price for the first 6 months of 2019 took a moderate decline of 6%, moving from a 6 year high of $158,750 in 2018 to $149,100. This minor change can be attributed to especially strong sales activity with high end home sales in Northern Door County last year.

Next month we will take a closer look at the different markets for the full first 6 months of 2018 vs. 2019.

Overall activity for low to moderately priced homes in all the Door and Kewaunee markets remains very strong with many homes receiving strong interest and often multiple offers soon after being exposed in MLS and other social media sites.

When inquiries on homes for sale are received by many Realtors, an all too often typical response will be “sorry, that home is under contract”!

ERA Starr Realty has their hand on the pulse of the real estate markets in Door and Kewaunee Counties. Daily we tabulate what’s new on the market and what has just been sold. We dissect sale prices, locations, square footage, etc. to better serve our customers and clients. We are “ALWAYS THERE FOR YOU!”

May 2018 Newsletter

May 10, 2018 by Kathy M

Well, we are four months into the 2018 selling season for the Door-Kewaunee real estate markets. Typically, at this time we are able to garner enough market activity information to forecast what the remainder of the year has to offer.

With that in mind, the forecast is warm and sunny with no signs of storms on the horizon. Sales are up, interest rates are stable, the economy is excellent, and lending institutions have a wide variety of loans available…..even with $0 down.

Here are the facts comparing the first 4 months of 2018 with 2017:

	2017	2018
Number of Sales	221	249
Total Volume	$46.6 million	$52.1 million
Median Price	$140,500	$155,000

The number that jumps out here is the increase in median price. At 10%, this is certainly a significant gain and needs some further explanation.

I consider the Door County area of Jacksonport and Egg Harbor north a separate market area. This area completed 149 sales or 60% of all the MLS sales for 4 months. In addition, these 149 sales marked an increase of 27% for their 2017 production. That is a “hot” market. This rather dramatic increase in sales activity was accompanied by a very solid increase in median price, moving from $175,000 in 2017 to $193,500 this year.

The remainder of Door County, south of Jacksonport and Baileys Harbor, was rather stable. There was just one more sale going from 74 to 75, but a nice increase in median price rising from $146,500 to $154,500. Kewaunee County sales went from 25 to 24 with a climb in median price from $91,000 to $110,750.

With offices in Sturgeon Bay and Sister Bay, ERA Starr Realty is proud to serve all of Door and Kewaunee Counties……..and we have since 1954! We are: “ALWAYS THERE FOR YOU!”

Congratulations Susan May!

January 23, 2018 by Stephen Arbole

Susan May from our office was awarded 2017 Realtor of the Year by the Door County Board of Realtors during their general membership meeting in January. Congratulations!!!

We are very proud of you!

January 2018 Newsletter

January 19, 2018 by admin

2017 proved to be a continuation of a very strong rebound of the real estate markets in Door and Kewaunee Counties. Strong increases in the number of properties sold, total volume for those sales and median price highlighted a very solid performance for all sectors of the market.

Here are the basics:

Category 2016 2017 % of Change
No. of Properties Sold 1008 1071 +6%
Total Volume (millions) $194.4 $232.0 +19%
Median Price $159,500 $145,000 +10%

To put this in perspective, we can look back to 2013 and note a consistent overall improvement in virtually all the major measures of real estate activity over these last 5 years.

Needless to say, different sectors of the market experienced different rates of growth. In 2017 this is especially true for residential waterfront home sales. We find a huge uptick in values in the overall category plus major differences when looking at the values in Northern Door vs. Southern Door.

Although the number of sales was relatively stable, median price increased for shore homes north of Sturgeon Bay by 35% rising from $452,500 to $610,000. South of Sturgeon Bay we saw median price move up 14% from $283,500 to $324,250. Washington Island and the City of Sturgeon Bay are not included in the calculations.

In Kewaunee County there were just 3 waterfront homes sold in 2016 and 6 in 2017 so there is not enough data to draw any meaningful conclusions.

ERA Starr Realty feels it is important to be informed on all aspects of the real estate market in order to provide the best service possible to our customers and clients. We Are…..”Always There For You”

November 2017 Newsletter

November 14, 2017 by admin

The real estate market for Door-Kewaunee County just seems to keep on rolling along with no sign of letting up in the near future. October activity evidences just how vibrant this market is.

There were 112 sales in October compared to 91 last year. That’s a very robust 23% increase. Coupled with an increase in volume from $16.7 million to $29.8 million in October for the last two years, we have a rather dynamic start to the fourth quarter of 2017.

The 78% volume increase for the month resulted in the strongest overall monthly volume in the last 5 years. The second highest volume total in the last 5 years was 2015 with $22.5 million……and that’s a 32% increase.

So year to date where are the hot spots? In looking over agency production, we find that offices located in Northern Door are experiencing the greatest share of overall growth. Their number of sales has increased 27% while volume jumped just over 49%.

Those increases pushed up median price from $155,000 last year YTD to $185,000 through October of this year for a hefty bounce of 19%.

The above statistics consider Northern Door as the areas north of Jacksonport and Egg Harbor.

In reviewing the YTD stats for Southern Door (Sevastopol and South) we find that activity was actually down a bit. The number of sales was down 7% from 330 to 307 while median price dropped from $155,000 last year to $145,000 so far this year, also a 7% decrease.

Kewaunee County showed an increase in sales from 79 to 84, a jump of 6% while median price had a nice increase moving from $87,500 to $102,000 resulting in a solid increase of 17%.

ERA Starr Realty continues to lead the MLS with a total of 291 transactions YTD. The second leading office checks in with 215. This means we deal with more buyers and sellers, giving us strength in the market. Put this strength to work for you. Let us…. “Always be there for YOU!”

August 2017 Newsletter

August 21, 2017 by admin

July continued the strong resurgence of the real estate markets since those dismal years starting back in 2008. 2017 is the third consecutive year of very impressive sales and increasing values for the Door and Kewaunee markets.

Year to date (Jan-July) vitals are very strong. The number of sales increased from 498 in 2016 to 538 this year for a nice increase of 8%. This is especially encouraging since inventory of available properties typically decreases as we move through improving economic conditions.

Everybody’s favorite real estate statistic is median price. Thus far in 2017 we have seen a very solid increase of 10% moving from $136,000 in 2016 to $154,500 this year.

Another positive sign of a good market is the decrease of “days on the market”. Here we see a rather substantial improvement. In 2016 the average time it took for a property to sell was 405 days. In 2017, year to date, that number has dropped to 325 days, down 25%. We find the demand segment of the market realizes it is a bit of a seller’s market so they must act fast if they want to secure a specific property.

We are seeing multiple offers on many properties.

So, how are things for residential waterfront properties year to date? Here’s the lowdown:

	2017	2016	% of Change
Number Sold	53	50	+6%
Median Price	$414,200	$394,950	+5%

Here at ERA Starr Realty, residential shore home sales are an important part of our overall marketing program. Of the 53 listings sold thus far this year, we were listing agency for 14 of the properties. The second most active agency listed 7 shore homes.

No matter the type property, ERA Starr Realty can break down all the information and present you with an informative analysis of activity on the property, giving you valuable data to help in your decision making. We are: “Always There For You”!

Mid-Year Newsletter July 2017

July 19, 2017 by admin

A solid June polished off what has to be labeled a highly positive 6 months for the real estate industry in the Door-Kewaunee market place.

Here are the vitals for residential inland properties:

	2016	2017	% of change
Number of Sales	154	215	+40%
Median Price	$145,000	$162,500	+12%
Days on the Market	248	223	+10%

For all properties recorded in the MLS, we find that there were a total of 427 sales for the first 6 months of 2017. This compared to 389 sales in 2016. That’s a 10% increase.

Median price for all properties checked in with an 11% increase moving from $139,225 in 2016 to $154,000 here in 2017.

This information shows us that inland residential housing did the bulk of the work in accounting for the solid sales and median price increases for our market. In 2016 residential inland home sales accounted for 41% of the overall activity in our MLS. The second strongest contributor to sales was residential condominiums at 13%.

Inland residential for the first 6 months of 2017 was 50% of all sales recorded in the MLS.

As always, ERA Starr Realty prides itself in keeping current with all that is going on in Door and Kewaunee Counties regarding real estate. We continue to lead the MLS in properties listed and sold as we have for the last decade+. For answers to any and all your real estate questions, give us a call…we are “Always There For You”!

May 2018 Newsletter

Congratulations Susan May!

Susan May from our office was awarded 2017 Realtor of the Year by the Door County Board of Realtors during their general membership meeting in January. Congratulations!!!

We are very proud of you!

January 2018 Newsletter

November 2017 Newsletter

August 2017 Newsletter

Mid-Year Newsletter July 2017

Featured Agent

Real Estate News

Organizations We Support

Office Locations