The video below provides a very quick update on the latest trends for single family homes in Madison, Wisconsin. This update covers the month of September. Here's a quick overview of our sellers' market. 

Madison Single Family Home Market Trends - 9/2015

• Madison home sales set a 10 year high in the month of September. 
• Accepted offers reached an all-time high. As a result we expect a high number of closings in both October and November. 
• Inventory is low, especially for homes priced under $350,000. 
• Expired listings are trending along historically low levels. 
• Days on market are also trending along historically low levels. 
• Home prices are on the rise. 

Dane County Real Estate in the News

This MLS real estate 

We recently posted an update on the status of the Madison area condo market. In this post we take a similar view at the latest trends for single family homes. All of our data comes from the South Central Wisconsin MLS, and is updated through March of 2015, unless otherwise noted. Much of the data comes from our sister site, DaneCountyMarket.com. As the data below shows, we're in the throes of a seller's market.

Madison Area Single Family Home Trends - Active Listings

The graph below shows the number of Dane County active single family home listings at the end of every March going back the last 8 years. Active listings have decreased steadily since 2010 and are now more than 36% below the peak. It's important to note that these listings include

Note from Dan 4/10/2015: This article has been updated to include the latest market statistics from March of 2015.

We recently wrote a short post about the low levels of condo inventory in the Madison area. In this article we'll dig a little deeper to show why the Madison metropolitan area needs more condominiums. We'll take a look at some key condo statistics for the county, city and some of the major condo developments in town. The picture we paint will show more than a tight condo market but a market where there is a clear shortage of condominiums. In this market buyers face some clear challenges, while sellers have never experienced a time of greater opportunity. 

Dane County Condo Trends - Active Listings

Each month we publish the number of

Who would have ever thought we'd see bidding wars over downtown condos with many units selling in a matter of hours and days? This is the reality of the Madison condo market. The condo lifestyle is "in". First-time buyers and down-sizers alike are jumping into a market that has a limited supply of inventory. Prices are rising and many units are selling very quickly.

This isn't the dynamic for every condo development in town, but there are a number of Madison condominium communities that have become extremely popular with local buyers. These popular communities have become "mini sellers markets" where a well-priced unit is almost guaranteed a quick sale.

Our list of popular condominium communities covers the hottest developments in town. For every

What makes some Madison neighborhoods more popular than others? There are a number of contributing factors, but most of the neighborhoods on our "10 most popular list" are located near the city center on either the near west side or near east side of town. These parts of the city offer a rare combination of amenities that's hard to find in many other metropolitan areas.

The near east side and near west side offer Lake Mendota, Lake Monona, and Lake Wingra; parks and conservancy spaces; and bike paths that make it easy to travel about the city. Our top 10 neighborhoods are located near a number of excellent restaurants and shopping venues - as well as many of the area's largest employers. The state government, Madison's four hospitals, and the

Getting ready to sell your home? If you're like many home owners, you want to hire a real estate agent who has the experience that comes with selling many properties. Experience is important. Results are important, too. When it comes to results there are three key questions you can ask during the interview process:

1. What are the odds your home will sell?
2. How long will it take to sell your home?
3. How close will your selling price be to your list price? 

We recently dug into these questions by reviewing listing data from the South Central Wisconsin MLS. We focused our review on the top 26 listing agents in South Central Wisconsin (based on 2014 sold listing volume). Our analysis covered listings for single family homes. To keep the data

When is the best time to put your home on the market? Here's the short answer: by March 1st.

Each year the Madison real estate market quickly shifts from a buyer's market (in November and December) to a seller's market (in late winter and early spring). The graph below, which shows buyer activity by month, makes this abundantly clear. Although many local homes and condos sell each month, the house-hunting frenzy is strongest during the months of March, April and May. Now that we've made our way through the holiday season the market in early January is already heating up. We're seeing more showing activity right now than we did a month ago.

Madison Accepted Offers by Month - Homes and Condos

Why March 1st is a Great Time to List your Home

Interested in buying a distressed property in Madison or the surrounding Dane County area? Mad City Dream Homes has all the tools you need to quickly identify foreclosures and short sale properties. Read on to learn how you can use our search tools to locate short sales and REO/bank-owned homes in the Madison area. 

Example: Searching for Madison Foreclosures 

1. Go to our property search page.
2. Type Madison into the Location filter.
3. Go to the Foreclosures filter and select REO/Bank Owned.
4. Click Refine Search.

Our search page will then display a list of REO/bank-owned foreclosures in the city of Madison. Note "REO" stands for "real estate owned" by a lending institution.  

Example: Searching for Madison Short Sales 

Searching for real estate by school or school district is easy with our suite of property search tools. We show you how with two simple examples below.

Example 1: Homes in the Middleton-Cross Plains School District

Let's suppose you're interested in homes in the Middleton-Cross Plains school district. Here's how you can focus your search in 4 quick steps:

1. Go to our property Search page.
2. Scroll to the School District filter and select Middleton-Cross Plains
3. Customize your search according to your preferred property type, size, price, and number of bedrooms/bathrooms.
4. Click Refine Search.

Our search tool then presents all of the properties in the Middleton-Cross Plains school district that meet all of our your defined criteria.

What does the new year hold in store for Madison, Wisconsin real estate? Based on our review of objective market data, we expect the 2014 Madison real estate market to be another good year for local home and condo sellers. Read on for more info:

2014 Madison Real Estate Predictions

1. Madison home and condo sales will continue at strong levels, but will decrease from the levels of 2013. The 2013 real estate market was a perfect storm for local sellers. Low prices, rock bottom mortgage rates, and several years of pent up demand combined to create a huge influx of buyers in 2013. These market forces are still at play in 2014, but not to the extent of the previous year. Our pending home sales data suggests strong but moderating sales in the months