** This article was originally written by Samantha Haas while a member of our team. You can learn more about Samantha and her work here. 

We are excited to share that Solace Friends, Inc., the nonprofit we recently featured on our blog, has found a home and hired an executive director! 

Solace will soon be able to house some of the most vulnerable people in our community during their final stage of life in coordination with existing hospice and clinical care staff. The same week in June that Solace solidified a loan through Monona Bank and Forward Community Investments, Realtor Ann Raschein helped Solace submit an offer on 4142 Monona Dr, Madison – and it was accepted! 

Given how intense the real estate market was this summer, Board President

What is the definition of art? According to author Seth Godin, "Art is a human act, a generous contribution, something that might not work, and it is intended to change the recipient for the better, often causing a connection to happen."

Which leads us to a second question: Using Godin's definition of art, is it possible that our careers can serve as art, too? 

At Mad City Dream Homes, we believe practicing real estate as an expression of art is entirely possible. And in fact it's the only real option we have in a world that needs all of us to be a little more generous, to create more positive connections, and to influence more positive change. 

And so, we are faced with two choices. We can either view ourselves as workers and our careers as jobs

** This article was originally written by Samantha Haas while a member of our team. You can learn more about Samantha and her work here. 

Door County cherries. Plump plums. Juicy peaches. These are just a few of the fresh fruits recently offered through Munch, The River Food Pantry’s mobile meal program. This month, our team had the opportunity to climb aboard the colorful van to help distribute these fruits alongside bags of snacks, drinks, and sandwiches at several stops throughout Madison.

Our shifts began with an overview of south central Wisconsin’s busiest food pantry. Volunteer coordinator Debbie Bormann stressed the importance of volunteers and donations to The River, which has seen a huge spike in new households this year – especially

Earlier this summer we shared the names of a few contractors who are standing out with service in 2022. Here are a few more professionals that we'd love to share with you based on their track record with our clients and our team. 

Paul Peterson - Painter (608-358-3600)

Paul and his team are friendly, reliable, and professional. They're receiving rave reviews from our clients, and we absolutely love their work on our office remodel. We highly recommend Paul and his crew. 

Cody Helmer - Construction (608-577-7041)

Cody and his small crew specialize in new roofs, new siding, 3-season porches, and large-scale remodeling projects. Even better, Cody is the type of person you can do business with on a handshake.

Bob Stigsell - Asbestos, Mold,

Wondering what's going on in the Dane County condo market? Here's our latest scoop on the Madison area condo market, updated through the month of July, 2022.

Active Dane County condominium listings

As of August 11th, 141 Dane County condo listings were available for sale (without an accepted offer) on the South Central Wisconsin MLS. After almost doubling over the last few months, active listings have actually started to level off and even recede in recent weeks. Why is this happening? Condominium listings continue to enter the market at a slow pace (see the next section below).

New Dane County condo listings

Only 165 new condominium listings entered the market in the month of July, which was a 17% decrease from July of 2021. Listings

Here's our latest scoop on the Dane County single family home market, updated through the month of July, 2022.

Available single family home listings

As of August 11th, 573 single family home listings were available for sale in Dane County. Although active listings have increased dramatically since the spring of 2022, the rate of growth has leveled off in recent weeks. A low supply of incoming listings has contributed to the leveling off of available inventory (see below).

New single family home listings

Only 566 new single family home listings entered the Dane County real estate market in July. This represented a 25% decrease from July of 2021, and the lowest total for any month of July since the year 2000. Why are listings entering the

Now that we’re entering a more rational real estate market, a lot of sellers are realizing that they can’t just wish for a price and have that price come true. They’re learning that there is both an art and a science to pricing, and that their home will sit on the market if they and their realtor don’t invest the time and thought required to select the right price. 

Our advice to you

So, if you're planning to sell your home soon, our advice to you is don’t leave your pricing up to chance. Ask your listing agent to perform a comprehensive market analysis for you, and ask you agent to explain their reasons for their pricing recommendation. In other words, ask your realtor to show their work. 

We also encourage you to formulate your own price

For the second straight year, Livability has named the city of Madison as the #1 place to live in America. No doubt, Madison's reputation for being a great place to live, work and recreate is spreading far and wide. 

Which lead us to 4 important questions

#1: In this age of worker mobility, how many people from across the country are viewing the Livability rankings right now and considering a move to Madison?

#2: How many retirees, who could choose to live anywhere, are putting Dane County at the top of their list?

#3: And how many out-of-state investors, who are flush with cash, are wondering how they, too, can get in on the action?

#4: And last, when it comes to climate change, how many people from the west and southwestern parts of

A few months ago, we predicted the supply of Madison area property listings would be low this year, and so far in 2022 the market has proven our prediction to be true. 

Take Dane County homes, for example:

Through the first 7 months of the year, single family home listings have been entering the market at the slowest pace since the year 2000.

And Dane County condos:

Condominium listings have been entering the market at the slowest pace since 2002.

The thing is, real estate is likely to be a scarce resource for a long time.

And it all comes down to simple supply and demand.

Supply will remain low because home and condo construction is subdued, foreclosures are relatively rare, and homeowners with low mortgage rates are

Dane County home and condo prices continued to post big increases in the month of July. Here's our latest snapshot.

Home prices were up by 12 percent.

The price per square foot increased from $189 in July of 2021 to $213 in July of 2022.

Condo prices were up by 17 percent.

The price per square foot increased from $180 in July of 2021 to $211 in July of 2022.

Where will prices go from here?

Keep in mind the July numbers are the result of offers that were written in the months of May and June, back when there was less inventory and more demand. Now that inventory is rising, we do expect the growth in prices to moderate, but we don't expect prices to fall. That's because supply is still very low by historical standards, and low