Housing prices, sales continue statewide dip: Baraboo has 189 properties for sale; 859 in Sauk County
By Christie Taylor / News Republic
Housing prices and sales continued to slide statewide in the first half of this year, according to the Wisconsin Realtor’s Association, more fallout from the national foreclosure crisis and increasingly strict lending practices. Data for the second quarter of 2009 showed a 3.3 percent decline in median home price, dropping to $151,700 from $156,900 at the same time last year. The first quarter median price was nearly 18 percent worse than the first quarter of 2008, dropping from $161,100 to $132,500. Century 21 manager David Vander Schaaf said the unusually large proportion of low-valued homes being sold skewed median price downward, making the statistics for Sauk County more affected by small variations. At the same time, he said, he was seeing prices 20 to 30 percent lower than they were two years ago for the same houses. He said banks off-loading foreclosed properties were largely responsible for the drop. By lowering prices monthly in an effort to comply with ownership laws, they made it difficult for homeowners to earn market value from their own properties unless those properties were "in mint condition." As of Thursday afternoon, he said, there were 189 properties for sale in Baraboo and West Baraboo, and 859 properties in the entire county. Not only were more homes onthe market, he said, but banks were paying much more attention to where they put their money, making it more difficult for potential buyers to get loans, and slower to finalize sales. "The scrutiny on these things is unreal," Vander Schaaf said. Whereas it used to take four or five weeks, tops, to settle a deal, he said, it could now take six or eight. In cases where rehabilitation of a property was necessary — perhaps as many as 15 to 20 percent, Vander Schaaf said — the process could easily take more than two months. The number of transactions in the first half of the year was about even with the first half of 2008, which Vander Schaaf said was something to be optimistic about. "That’s ... an indication we’re nearing the bottom," he said. According to the WRA data, Sauk County is still doing better than the state as a whole. Statewide, second quarter sales dropped 10.5 percent over 2008, about half the decline seen in the first quarter, while the statewide median price declined 9.9 percent from the same period in 2008. Michael Mulleady, chairmen of the WRA board, said the lower drop was an indication that the market was stabilizing. However, Vander Schaaf said, it was unlikely — "outside an amazing change in employment" — that sales or prices would improve until the foreclosure rate had dropped back and the glut of inexpensive houses had cleared the market. And that, he said, could take anywhere from 18 to 36 months. "It’s frustrating sitting down with a regular person trying to sell their houses, and I don’t have any good news," he said. Matt Orvis, a Baraboo carpenter, has been trying on his own to sell his house on West Street for "almost exactly a year," he said. Despite investing significant time and energy in a new roof, new siding, and other remodeling of what had originally been "a dump, inside and out," he started seeing the value decline two years ago. Now, he said, the house was appraised at close to its original value. While he had come "pretty close" to selling several times in the last year, the banks had often gotten in the way. "Even people with good credit have been having trouble getting home loans," he said. He’s still holding out for a particular price but, he said, he has little hope of breaking even at this point. "If someone gave me an offer right now, if it was $15,000 lower than what I need to pay my mortgage, I would take it," Orvis said. "I just pray every day." Send e-mail to ctaylor2@capitalnewspapers.com