GREEN BAY (NBC26) — A Northeast Wisconsin Realtors Association board member tells NBC 26 we are in a "housing crisis." But, compared to other places in the U.S., there are some advantages to living in Packers Country.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story with additional details for the web.)
A recent study claims cities in Northeast Wisconsin are among the top 20 places to search for a home for the first time. But, some people in the real estate business say there are still some major hurdles for home buyers to overcome. I'm Pari Apostolakos and I spoke to members of the Realtors Association of Northeast Wisconsin while they're in Washington, D.C. trying to make legal changes to help home buyers.
Watch Pari Apostolakos' full broadcast story here:
I spoke with Mike Kunesh, a board member from the Realtors Association of northeast Wisconsin while he was in Washington meeting lawmakers to ask for things like expanded low income housing tax credits.
"We have a housing crisis and that's not necessarily an understatement," Kunesh said over Zoom Wednesday afternoon. "So, any housing, whether it's lower income, workforce housing, or even the mid-to-upper. We need it in all places."
In a May study by Smart Asset on best housing markets for first time home buyers, Appleton was ranked fifth and Green Bay was ranked 18th. Yet, challenges persist here in what Kunesh says is a seller's market.
"It's a demand and supply issue," Kunesh said. "Not 10 years ago, the average priced home in northeastern Wisconsin was about $150,000. Our new April statistics just came out and the average priced home statewide is $322,000."
Kunesh says our average home prices are still hundreds of thousands of dollars lower than some other states. But, the work that goes into a home is now much more expensive and time is money.
"We spent about a year and three months doing the renovation, remodeling of the home," Eric Johnson, a loan officer who remodels homes to sell, said at his office on Velp Avenue Wednesday afternoon. "We had listed the home at $274,900. We ended up selling it at $295,000."
Johnson says he and his wife will continue to flip houses in the Green Bay metro area.
"It's also a large sense of satisfaction when you've taken a home that's un-liveable and complete the renovations, turn it into a quality property that somebody could be happy to live in and raise a family," Johnson said.
As Kunesh works to build support in D.C. he has a message for any would-be buyers right now back home.
“Just lock and load if you're able to, because interest rates will eventually come down and you can refinance. But, if you’re waiting for them to come down you’re just falling behind,” Kunesh said.
According to the Wisconsin Realtors Association's latest data from April, year-to-date home sales were down more than 3% compared to April last year.
