Observations from a Northwoods REALTOR

What I am seeing thus far this summer:

Traffic is definitely down. Walk-ins and call-ins are down as is Internet traffic. Auro traffic is down as well. July 4 was quite busy here and the crowds were huge. However, the crowds died down by Sunday.

Real Estate is moving a bit better. At the end of May, the amount of tax the State of Wisconsin receives (transfer tax) was down YTD 40% from the same period in 2007. At the end of May, that value was down to 31% for Vilas County. So, there is life out there.

Many Sellers are choosing not to participate in the Buyers' Market.

$4/gallon gas has affected Northwoods' tourism but in different ways. The hotels/resorts are still booked pretty solid. It would seem that many are eating in and trying to save money to offset the increase in travel costs.

Boat traffic on the lakes is down. Not necessarily a bad thing.

I still have Buyers that want to buy! We still work in a highly desirable area! We may not have all of the economic advantages of double digit appreciation that we have had in the past. We as REALTORS need to sell the other benefits of Northwoods home ownership.