Since the boom of COVID days, when the fed was giving away money like it was infected with the plague, the market in Milwaukee was been one of the most active in the country. 2.2% interest rates are gone. Unless there is another global pandemic or another reason the economy needs an adrenaline shot directly to the heart, those rates are most likely not coming back. The record is skipping and the party is over.
As rates have risen to fight inflation, the housing market here in Milwaukee stayed competitive. Buyer's gona keep buying, that means local families, local investors and investors from out of town. Since the properties here are relatively cheaper than the coasts, real estate investment companies (hoarding single family homes which in my opinion should be made a crime), Mom & Pop investors looking to make a safe investment for their kid's futures, and simply people moving from out of town have all kept the flame a fire. Come August 2024. State of the Milwaukee Real Estate Market If you are not directly or indirectly part of the business of real estate you may have not heard about the lawsuit and subsequent settlement (and subsequent copy-suits) brought against the National Association of Realtors.
The TL;DR version of the case was that the NAR and hence the industry in general (NAR is by FAR the largest trade group for realtors) did not make it clear enough that commissions are negotiable. (Hate to Monday morning quarterback here but, could we have just slapped a bold notice on every document saying that commission IS in fact negotiable, take out a Super Bowl add saying the same thing and call it a day?)
Any-who, besides the monetary penalty adjudicated on the NAR, the suit also stipulated practice changes for the entire industry.
For most people, this will look like having to sign a pre-agency disclosure before starting to tour homes. For agent's representing buyers it has been an extra text message asking if the seller is in-fact offer compensation for finding a buyer, and for seller's and their agent it has been figuring out the percentage that works for all involved. Most of the time the burden of buyer's agent's compensation will still, most likely, come from the seller. (See previous post about the potential of most buyer's paying the buyer's agent's fee).The changes stemming from the NAR settlement went into affect August of this year. And the market has cooled. Right along with the yearly fall/winter dampening. What does that mean for buyer's? Well if you tried to put in an offer say anywhere between two years and six months ago and were quickly trampled on by over asking offers, with no inspection contingency and promises of washing the seller's car for a year. Well, for now anyway, that is no longer the case most places.
If you feel like trying again in a market that is more of a Holstein than a bull, reach out to me, let's do some showings.
-Roman the Realtor 262.875.9414
Comments