Good afternoon, it’s me Julie Paez the team leader of the JWP Group at Remax and I'm just reaching out today. Had an interesting conversation with a buyer yesterday, just listed a property up here in Northwoods and the buyer reached out and felt it was incredibly overpriced and said he'd be happy to write an offer at about 60% of value of what we currently have listed for and this is only the second day that it's been on the market. So obviously, you know, I said, Hey, you know you're shopping in the wrong market is not a market to steal real estate in at this point. We are still a pretty aggressive market. So he in turn mentioned you know, what's the news media is saying the national news media about foreclosures and bank loans are all on the rise and that our market is starting to shift and you know, these properties are all so overpriced. 

So I wanted to do as I took a look at some numbers, and I know it's only the 27th of January, and I don't usually do my market reports until the beginning of the month, but I guess I wanted to just give you guys some facts about the Northern Wisconsin real estate market. Remember real estate is local. We say that all the time, but what does that really mean? It means that every market segment is different. You can't take a Northern Midwest town in Northern Wisconsin and compare it to what's happening in say, California, LA you know, other metropolitan areas. Real estate is local, so you have to talk to a local professional. 

So here's where we are 27 days into January. Yes we are down in sales last year by the 27th of January or in the entire month we sold 206 properties. We have only sold 134 year to date. So we are down about 35% in total inventory. We break that down. We've had 49 lots so far sell this year compared to 86 last year, which is a decrease of about 45%. So that's where the biggest gap is. When we look at homes, we've sold 85 year to date compared to 120 last year, so we're only 29% down in the home sales compared to the lot sales. Then we look at over all new listings, we have taken so far year to date a 150 new listings the entire month of January, last year we took 231 so year to date, we're 35% down on new listings, so it makes sense that we're 35% down in inventory and our total sales are down about 35%. So it's hard for prices to drop when there's simply nothing to sell. Where the price drop is going to come from because there's no inventory to sit on the market and lag. We are still down to less than four months supply of inventory. And historically, if there's less than six months supply of inventory, it is a seller's market. So if you're looking to buy or sell in the Northwoods, you really should understand what's happening in your local specific market so you understand how to price it or how to go after buying it. how you started a conversation with potential seller as a buyer has a huge impact and how that entire transaction goes. 

So again, if you're looking for guidance in the Northwoods or you're interested in a particular market segment, give me a call. I would love to run the numbers and talk with you further about it. Real estate is local and if you're looking for local advice make sure you have somebody in your corner who actually understand the market. Have a great day and see you soon in the Northwoods.