Madison MLS statistics | Madison real estate sales stats

In case you missed it, this week we announced on Lake & City Homes Facebook Fan Page our new Market Snapshot reports. What's a market snapshot? It's a personalized report that charts current up-to-the-minute market activity about homes in your neighborhood (or any area you specify within a 3-5 mile radius of a given property address). The report includes data such as sold homes and condos, homes and condos currently for sale, inventory counts and even days-on-market. These reports are a fantastic resource if you've been asking yourself any of these burning questions:

• How do my neighborhood's home values stack up?
• What are homes worth in my target area?
• What's my current home worth?
• Is now a good time to sell?
• Has the market stabilized?

To get

 According to the SCWMLS (South Central Wisconsin Multiple Listing Service), in October 2010 the average sale price for single family homes sold in Madison Wisconsin fell to a new 5-year low of $219,014 for the month of October, just barely above the 2010 low of $217,874 which occurred in April 2010. November average price data will be out shortly and we'll keep you updated on whether this trend continues, slows, or changes direction.

For five year charts showing Madison WI single family home sales, as well as average days on market (average DOM), please visit our New! Madison real estate statistics page.Later in the week we'll also have some updated MLS statistics for the Madison WI condo market.

These seemingly pretty flowers (or perhaps margarita glasses, as my son pointed out!) are actually huge water tanks. Sady, they remind me that, despite the typical seasonal slowdown for this time of year, sales of single family homes in Madison Wisconsin virtually tanked last month.

In October 2010, the number of units of Madison single family homes sold fell to a new 5-year low for the month of October. Only 84 units made it to closing. The average price was $219,014 and it took an average of 78 days for these properties to go to closing.  

Please check out the chart below which puts the sales slowdown for single family homes into historical perspective. You can see charts for average prices and average DOM (Days On Market) for Madison single family

Given our frequent focus on the Madison market, we thought an update about the overall market for real estate in Dane County was in order. So we put together the market snapshot below showing the performance of the Dane County real estate market in each category of sales for October 2010.

As you can see, October sales in Dane County compared favorably to that of, well, molasses. As you can see, no more than approximately 5% of any category of available real estate inventory sold during the month of October. Moreover, sales of the two biggest categories, single family homes and condos, were down over 50% and 70% respectively from last October. Prices held firm for condos and multi-family homes and even increased 10% for single family homes, however

Parenting magazine just released a list of the top places to raise a family and Madison Wisconsin snagged third.

According to Parenting magazine, Madison Wisconsin is the third best city in the country for families.

Here are the results of the cities that made it into the top 10:

How did Parenting magazine determine the top 10? They surveyed mothers nationwide to determine the factors Mom consider to be most important when deciding where to make a home. Then they compiled a list of the top 100 cities by population according to the U.S. Census. Over 5,000 data points were gathered in 52 different categories

Foreclosure rates have been receiving a significant amount of attention over the past couple of years, and for good reason. After all, the rate of foreclosure is a good indicator of the overall health of the economy on a national level as well as on a local level. Therefore, for those who live in Dane County and Madison, Wisconsin, taking a closer look at foreclosure rates is of great importance -- even to those who are not directly involved in the real estate market, since the condition of the economy is something that affects everyone throughout Dane County and the state of Wisconsin.

According to RealtyTrac, 1 in every 180 housing units in Dane County, Wisconsin received a foreclosure filing in April 2010. Taking into account that the

I'm pleased to announce that after two weeks of enduring a steep learning curve for video editing, a variety of technical issues and glitches, and a fair degree of performance anxiety, I'm finally ready to kick off our new monthly housing update! It's dubbed The Madison Market Update because it's focused on the residential Madison WI real estate market.

In today's premier edition of the Madison Market Update you'll find highlights of the Madison housing market year-to-date with comparisons to last year using measures such as sales volume, average prices, average days on market and more. The Madison Market Update will be updated monthly and you'll have access to all the charts and graphs discussed in each edition via our Madison Market Statistics page

It's official! President Obama signed a bill on 11/6/09 extending the $8K tax credit for first-time home buyers and offering a new credit of up to $6,500 for some existing homeowners. Please see our Tax Credit Overview to find out what it means to you.

This week the Senate reached a tentative deal to extend the $8K tax creditfor first-time home buyers which expires November 30th, 2009. It will be votedon in a cloture vote (ie it has been added to a bill currently on the Senatefloor to extend federal unemployment insurance benefits) which is scheduled forMonday, November 2nd at 5pm. Its passage remains uncertain.

Theagreement would extend the existing credit for first-time home buyers, worth upto $8,000, while offering a new credit of up to $6,500 for

That is the question!

Some homeowners do the laundry in the basement, some have finished basements with offices or playrooms for the kids, others have a Master bedroom suite or a guest room in their finished lower level. But over the years I've had dozens of clients buy or sell homes without testing for radon gas. One of my clients, who was concerned about radon because she had small children, had gone to the trouble of testing for radon twice in two homes she purchased during the last 10 years. She then tested a third time when she bought the home that she is now in the process of selling on Madison's West Side.

The test had been negative for radon gas when she and her husband purchased the home years ago, so when they received an offer recently that

A client recently posed this question, "Do you think if we got rid of the hot tub it would help?" Translation: Would getting rid of our hot tub make our property more attractive to buyers?

The client suggested she freecycle the hot tub. In fact, she thought she'd have no problem getting rid of it by the weekend. I don't know a lot about hot tubs (I've never owned one) but I wondered how she'd get rid of it so quickly if it was so undesirable. Afterall, it was already Thursday when she made the suggestion. Then again, that hot tub (see photo) wasn't looking so hot. It actually made her newly refinished deck look a little shabby. Then she mused, "I don't think anyone even wants a hot tub anymore. It costs a fortune to keep it running in the winter and