Vilas and Oneida County Units Listed vs. Sold 2004-2008

Signs of life? The units sold in the month of May are the highest since January. 128 units were sold compared with 158 in January. Only 53, 70, and 77 units sold in the months of February, March and April of this year. All of these months were well off the previous years of 2004-2007. However, it is positive news as we enter into the summer selling season. This is traditionally the busiest time of year as the sold units tend to peak in the late summer.

The optimism continues on the listing side as we saw 630 listings in May. That compares with 639 in 2007, the two highest months in the last 5 years.

The Days On Market Report continues to show the large gap between average list and average sell. On the water home average list is over $116,000 over average sold list. That is indicating that we have a lot of inventory that the market is not buying. What is a bit of a concern is the volume of waterfront being sold remains quite low. Only 19 lake homes were sold in all of Vilas and Oneida Counties in May.

Days On Market Report

Active Listings

On Water Off Water

Avg. DOM 169 195

Avg. List $522,223 $178,297

# of Listings 765 757

Sold Listings

On Water Off Water

Avg. DOM 117 179

Avg. List $405,968 $127,414

Avg. Sell $372,184 $121,880

Sell/List % 91.6% 95.6%

# of Listings Sold 19 45

The construction industry should be looking up as 60 vacant lots were sold in May. That is a healthy sign.

Overall, there appears to be optimism as we head into the summer months. Markets in the southern part of the state are reporting brisk traffic including Wisconsin Dells, another recreational market. Hopefully, gasoline will stabilize. It will be an interesting summer. Considering the inventory, the historically low interest rates and the pendulum clearly in favor of the buyers, it is an ideal time to be a buyer.