Dane County home prices continued to appreciate in March, as listings decreased. Here's our latest update on the Madison area single family home market. 

Dane County home prices 

The price per square foot increased from $218 in March of 2023 to $240 in March of 2024. That's a 10 percent increase year-over-year. Note the price per square foot is up 10 percent through the first quarter of the year, too. 

The median and average price were also higher in the month of March:

• The median price jumped from $426,500 in March of 2023 to $467,700 in March of 2024 -- an increase of 10 percent. 
• The average price moved from $483,519 in March of 2023 to $510,584 in March of 2024 -- an increase of 6 percent. 

New listings

After increasing each of the last 4 months, new MLS listings were noticeably lower in March. A total of 493 Dane County single family home listings entered the market in the month of March, which was a record low for the month. 

Active listings

Active listings (those without an accepted offer) are up slightly from each of the last two years, but listing availability is still much lower than where we want it to be. A total of 428 Dane County single family homes (or 1.1 months of supply) were available for sale on the MLS on April 9th, 2024. 

Accepted offers

Dane County contract signings were up slightly from March of 2023. Beyond that, they came in at the lowest total for any month of March in the last 13 years. 

Competing offers

The percentage of listings receiving multiple offers continues to run much higher than in the pre-pandemic market. This is one clear sign of pent-up demand in the Madison area, where the number of buyers exceeds the number of sellers. According to our preliminary data for the month of February, 45 percent of all accepted offers involved multiple offers in February of 2024, compared to 29 percent in February of 2019. 

Note how buyer competition varies by the seasons. Competition is highest in the springtime and early summer and lowest in the fall and early winter. 

Cash offers

Cash offers are also occurring more often in our post-pandemic market, which is another clear sign of pent up demand. The cash offer percentage jumped from 8% in March of 2019 to 15% in March of 2024. 

Days on market

Marketing times continue to trend near historically low levels -- yet another sign of pent up demand. 

Dane County home sales

Madison area home sales decreased slightly from March of 2023, and were the lowest for any month of March in the last 13 years. Low supply continues to limit home sales in Dane County. 

What to expect for the rest of 2024

Supply remains tight and our local population continues to grow. For these and other reasons, we expect the market will continue to be competitive and prices will continue to rise for the foreseeable future. 

Call us whenever you'd like to talk about the market. We're always available to talk real estate, and never with any sales pressure or spin.