How’s the Market? Q3 of 2021

The kids have returned to school, leaves are falling, and the lingering smell from Beef-a-rama has faded as we close out a very interesting third quarter for Northwoods real estate. Normally this time of year locals can take a breathe, eat at their favorite restaurant without a reservation and be solo navigators on the much quieter lakes. Any local will attest to the fact that this year feels different. The influx of year-round residents is apparent and when combined with many businesses closing for the season or permanently we are experiencing a much busier than usual fall.

The inventory crisis is very much alive and well, resulting in a leveling of YTD numbers for single family home* sales while vacant land sales are still crushing 2020 numbers. July and August were extremely slow months for new listings, and while it seems to have picked up since Labor Day, the data showed September listings were down almost 36% compared to September of 2020. When a property is priced correctly many sellers are still seeing multiple offers and getting well over asking price.

On October 1st there were 531 single family homes* for sale (-42.47%YTD) and 651 vacant lots for sale (-43.78%YTD) in Vilas and Oneida counties. The average sale price for single family homes is up 26.36% since 2020 and 37.65% since 2019. Vacant land new listings dropped in the third quarter (-6.63% YTD) after being the only category where new listings were ascending at the end of the second quarter. The average days on market has also dropped to 76 (-33.55%) for single family homes and 276 (-21.27%) for vacant land between the two counties.

With the amount of buyers we see competing it is hard to tell when our inventory pool is going to catch up and the market will balance. We predict the market will stay strong for sellers well into 2022.