You know, discussing real estate markets and price appreciation or price declines only seem meaningful if the discussion surrounds your local market.  The inventory of homes for sale in Lake Geneva and homes for sale in Walworth County in general has declined in the last quarter of 2011 while the demand has remained quite steady.  Obviously, less inventory on the market for sale with stable demand can equate to higher sale prices for sellers, even if it’s just a few percentage points.
It’s been reported recently from the National Association of Realtors Chief Economist, Lawrence Yun, that nationally sales of existing homes should edge up 4%-5% in 2012 and that mortgage interest rates should gradually rise from record lows in 2011 to around 4.5% in the middle of 2012.
If the information proves to be correct it would certainly confirm that we’re now bouncing along the bottom of the price decline of the last four years with the real estate in Walworth County and that the conditions that have held back any price appreciation or sales increase over this period of time may be easing.
In fact, any initial rise in interest rates usually causes buyers to get off the fence and make the purchase they’ve been planning, especially when the long term forecast for interest rates is definitely pointing up.  This may indeed become a main factor in next year’s overall increase nationally and hopefully locally in home sales in the Lake Geneva  WI real estate market and other Southern Wisconsin real estate markets,  as well.

Guest post by: Chris DeVincentis, Keefe Real Estate