You could be waiting for a long time. Perhaps, many years.
Why do we expect prices to remain elevated?
The big reason is persistently low inventory.
And one huge factor driving low supply is our region's rapid population growth. Dane County is currently the fastest-growing region in the state, and that trend is expected to continue. According to a recent study by the Capital Area Regional Planning Commission, our local population is expected to grow by more than 200,000 residents by the year 2050.
And yet there's very little supply in the pipeline to accommodate our future growth.
Yes, Dane County has added hundreds of new housing developments over the last decade, but most of that new construction has been for apartments, not homes and condos. Single family home construction has been subdued for the last 17 years, while new condo construction has slowed to a trickle.
Add all of these trends together and we see low inventory and high prices for many years to come. Which means there is a cost to waiting, and there is a price to pay for putting your homeownership dreams on hold.
So, if you've been waiting for the perfect time to buy, here's our advice to you:
Begin your search sooner rather than later, and focus on finding the home that checks most of your boxes, not all of them. By paying down the principal on your mortgage, by taking good care of your home, and by tending to your home's appreciation over the long run, you can start building equity right now that will help you move up to your next home a few years down the line. And when interest rates do fall in the future, you can refinance your mortgage and lower your monthly payment.
Please reach out to our realtor team for more market insight and for a helpful conversation. In the meantime we encourage you to check out these two articles for more of our thoughts on where we see prices going from here:
