Roof hasn't caved in on Rock County housing market
(Published Saturday, September 1, 2007 11:07:58 PM CST)
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
By Marcia Nelesen mnelesen@gazetteextra.com
The housing stock in Janesville and Rock County continues to buck national trends.
Although sales are down here and more houses are on the market for longer, the median purchase price of homes has increased and the average time on the market has increased by just 11 days.
The Janesville and Rock County housing market is protected because residents haven't seen big increases in home costs in the past, said Julie Raese, president of the Rock-Green Realtors Association and a real estate agent at Coldwell Banker Success.
"Ours always goes up little by little, just like now. Therefore, we don't see the big decreases."
When homes were increasing elsewhere by 20 percent, this area saw 4 percent increases.
Real estate agents tour a home on East VanBuren at an open house hosted by Realtor Elaine Dillon-Angelakis. The housing market in Janesville and Rock County hasn't seen as dramatic a drop as many other places in the country.
Bill Olmsted/Gazette Staff
"Things don't go up and up and up forever," Raese said.
Russ Kashian, an economics professor at UW-Whitewater, agrees.
"Real estate is like any other investment. It's going to have its ups and downs," he said.
While economists say home sales are down 3 percent, that's 3 percent from an all-time high, Kashian cautioned.
An oversupply of housing is a major reason for the housing slowdown, Kashian said.
"We built them faster than we had people," Kashian said.
"Eventually, that will catch up with itself. Those houses will be absorbed. At that point, the price of houses will rise."
Homeowners here, though, shouldn't experience the extreme swings of California, Miami and other hot markets. All real estate is local, he said.
Rock County is in a unique position, given its location between Walworth, Jefferson and Dane counties, Kashian said.
"It never had the price run-ups that a place like Dane County had," he added. "As a result, it doesn't have very far to fall."
Janesville mirrors the national trend in that more houses are on the market-649 in Janesville compared to last year's 552 and 1,524 in Rock County compared to last year's 1,325.
But the average sale price in Janesville so far this year is $146,960 compared to last year's average of $141,264, Raese said.
More expensive homes move slower than average-priced homes, she said.
In today's market, owners who want to sell had better price their property right, she advised.
Area people who may be affected are lake property owners in Walworth County, Kashian said. There, housing stock saw dramatic increases, so he figures owners also will see larger decreases as the market corrects itself.
He did predict an increase in the foreclosure of empty lots.
People making payments on lots may no longer have confidence that they can sell their homes, he said.
Kashian said those who can wait to sell their homes should.
But the odds of selling at an all-time high with any investment are slim, he said.
Those people who sell their houses at a high usually have to buy at a high, as well.
Kashian believes the housing slowdown, which began about a year ago, will last through 2009.
It may take longer to sell, and you may have to accept a slightly lower price, he said.
"But, in the long run, good real estate appreciates," he said.
Raese agreed.
Plenty of first-time homebuyers with good credit are out there, she said.
Those traditional borrowers will have no problem getting money from good lenders to invest in their homes.
"You're not going to get rich here," Raese said, "but you're not going to lose your shirt, either."
