Status of the Dane County Housing Market

Status of the Dane County Housing Market

I live in a fantastic town called Madison where the summers are gorgeous and the winters are brutal. We are a cultural Mecca in the state and pride ourselves on our Political efficacy and our presence as an emerging Bio-Tech leader. We also have the best College Footbal team, period! (IMHO)
Here in Madison we have an abundance of homes on the market right now from the 180-280k range, some that have been sitting for 6 months. The reason these "mid-range" homes have and will continue to have their values suffer is simple. The move up buyers from 2004 and 2005 that bought a ton of house because the money was almost free can simply not afford to drop the price; they have not yet established equity and they have not yet paid down their principal balances.
Thanks to both the constant stream of new professionals and the fantastic community lending programs available from Fannie Mae, the 120-160k range is moving along very nicely. The reason, there are always First Time Home Buyers! New Homeowners simply do not buy $250,000 homes around here. The builders keep building them and the flippers keep listing them but until the market stabilizes, the "mid-range" inventory shall sit.
Now of course there are move up buyers, someone has to be selling these $150,000 homes. These borrowers are going to be much more careful how they spend their money as there new loan is 1% higher than their last and the inventory is plentiful. Move up buyers will be looking for better deals and incentives. Now more than ever the seller that will pay his/her buyers closing costs, team up with a good Mortgage Broker to offer Strategic Financing and do extensive advertising and research will be the victors!
Mid Range Sellers need to take advantage of professional marketing assistance offered by companies such as ours and do their research, learn what move up buyers are looking for and cater to their needs. There will always be the Jones and there will always be the First Timers.
If anyone is interested in learning more about Strategic Financing or how they can promote their mid range listings without breaking the bank I am happy to help. Thank you for reading and have a great summer!