Our latest condo report shows why it's still a very strong sellers' market in many price points and locations throughout Dane County. Buyers and sellers who take the time to understand these trends and consult with a professional will be well-equipped to make good decisions in the year ahead. 

Madison area condo market trends for April and early May, 2020

Here are the latest Dane County condo market trends, with new information from the months of April and May.

Some condo owners are postponing their plans to sell. 

As you can see from the graph below, April condo listings decreased by 37% year-over-year. Fewer listings means fewer condos will be sold in the months ahead. At the same time we expect the condo market to remain very

We're two months into the COVID-19 pandemic now, and we have some important trends we'd like to share with anyone who's thinking of buying or selling in the Madison area. Buyers and sellers who understand these trends will be in a position to make smart decisions and make the most of this year's unique market. 

Dane County single family home trends for April and early May, 2020

Here are the latest trends in the single family home market, with fresh data from the months of April and May. 

Fewer owners are listing their home for sale. 

Single family home listings were in short supply before the pandemic began, and we expect this to be the trend for the foreseeable future. As you can see from the graph below, many home owners postponed their

Buyer activity dropped in March due to the pandemic announcement and Wisconsin's Safer at Home order. However, in the last couple of weeks we've had more buyers reaching out to us and asking us for help. 

At the same time we've noticed some interesting trends with our website traffic, which we like to track because it provides some insight into how engaged buyers are with the market. As you can see from the graph below, traffic dropped dramatically in the middle of March...BUT, it has been slowly climbing these last few weeks and is now much higher than it was the year before. 

Buyer interest is strong right now.

Even though there will be fewer homes bought and sold this year, there are still plenty of buyers out there who are waiting for the

A few days ago one of our buyer clients was elated to learn that her offer for a west side condo was accepted. This may seem hard to believe, but there were 8 other buyers who wrote an offer on the same property. You may be wondering, how is it possible that we're seeing so many competing offers at a time like this? It doesn't make sense that this would be happening during a pandemic.

The answer is, it's all about scarcity. Here's a quick look at how scarcity is shaping our market this Spring. 

Scarcity in the Dane County condo market

There are fewer buyers participating in the market right now - and fewer sellers, too. Here are the trends we're observing in the Madison area condo market. 

The under $250k condo market is highly

Many of you have a lot more interest in the real estate market than you did just a month ago, so we'll be sharing much more info on how the market is evolving in the weeks and months ahead. We've just published our latest Madison condo report here, but here's a shorter version of where the condo market is right now - and where we see it going.

Here's a quick summary of the March condominium market:

• Madison condo sales were up 12% from March of 2019. 
• The condo price per square foot increased by 10% in March and 8% year-to-date. 
• The number of expired listings and the average days on market were very low in March. 
• New condo listings decreased to the lowest level since 2003. 
• Accepted offers also decreased. This was due primarily

We know a lot of you have questions about how the Madison area real estate market is evolving, so we'll be sharing a lot of good information with you in the weeks and months ahead. This begins with our Madison single family home report, which will be updated regularly and is linked here. Below is our short summary of the latest trends and our perspective on how the market is changing. 

Here's a quick summary of the March single family home market:

• Madison home sales increased by 19% from March of 2019. 
• Accepted offers increased by 22%. 
• The number of expired listings and the average days on market remained near historically low levels. 
• The number of new MLS listings entering the market was the lowest total in the last 18 years.

We understand these are anxious times for many people, so we'll be doing our best to keep you updated on how the Madison area real estate market is evolving over time. Below we provide a brief look at what we see happening right now, as well as what we expect to happen in the future. 

What is our experience with the market right now? 

Right now we're actively assisting many people who are motivated to buy. We're also listing new properties and our listings are receiving strong traffic. We have noticed some relocating buyers are canceling their plans to fly into Madison and tour properties. We're also beginning to see changes in the way real estate is practiced (more on this below). Up to this point, this has been a pretty typical March for our

We've all seen stories in the media and social media about how hot the real estate market is in Madison. But when is the market the hottest, and when are bidding wars most common? Here's a quick look at the numbers which offer some good insight into our local market. 

Bidding wars are most common in March, April, May and June. 

Take a look at these numbers from 2019, which show the percent of listings that had competing offers for each month of the year. These numbers are consistent with our own experience: The spring months are the busiest months of the year, and these are the months when multiple offers and bidding wars are most common.

Bidding wars are also very common for properties priced under $300,000. 

Competing offers are also

It's only Valentines Day but the market is already heating up, especially for some of the more affordably-priced properties in the Dane County area. For example, in the last week, one of our clients received 3 competing offers on their new listing, while another client received an amazing 13! Here's a quick look at the price points that are receiving the most interest from buyers in early 2020. 

The hottest homes in the Madison area

Right now the hottest homes in the Madison area are those priced under $300,000. As you can see from the data below, well over 50% of these more affordably-priced listings are under contract with an accepted offer. If you think of this another way, it's like browsing for properties on a website like Zillow and

January was another solid month for the Madison area condo market. Here's our latest update based on data sourced from the South Central Wisconsin MLS.  

Dane County condo prices

The average price per square foot in January was the second-highest on record. With low interest rates, low inventory, and strong buyer demand - we fully expect Madison area condo prices to reach new highs in 2020. 

Dane County condo sales

Condo sales (or closings) dipped in January, but were still strong compared to most other years dating back to the year 2000. We expect low inventory levels to restrain condo sales throughout all of 2020. For more information, check out our inventory summary later in this post. 

Accepted offers

Despite low supply, the