Here's our first real estate update for the 2023 sales year, covering all of the latest trends in the Dane County single family home market. Do you have questions about the real estate market in your neighborhood? You can always contact our real estate team for an open and honest conversation. 

Madison area home prices

The price per square foot increased from $199 to $210, an increase of 6 percent year-over-year. The median price jumped from $380,775 to $430,000, an increase of 13 percent. 

New MLS listings

A low supply of new listings is one of the reasons why prices keep rising in Dane County. New listings decreased 26% year-over-year, and were the lowest on record for the month of January. 

Dane County housing starts

New homes are also being built at a slow pace. Only 73 housing starts were initiated in the month of January, which was the lowest January total since 2016. Thank you Dominic Collar from MTD Marketing Services of Wisconsin for making this data available to us. For more information, please contact Dominic at 920-450-6131. 

Dane County foreclosures

Foreclosures remain a relatively rare occurrence in the Madison area. 

Available listings

Although active listings in Dane County are up from the same time last year, they still remain low by historical standards. As of February 11th, only 358 single family homes were available for sale in the Madison area. Note from the chart below, active listings typically bottom in the month of February. 

Available listings have increased because fewer people are choosing to buy. For some buyers, a window of opportunity is opening up as inventory gradually grows. 

Accepted offers

Accepted offers decreased by 28% year-over-year, and were the lowest for any month of January since The Great Recession. It's important to note, however, that the Madison area real estate market is not in a recession, as prices continue to rise year-over-year.  

Dane County home sales

Madison area home sales (or closings) dipped 31% year-over-year, and were the lowest for any month of January since 2012. 

Competing offers

Our preliminary data for the month of December shows that 27% of the homes that went under contract in December received multiple offers. This is a decrease from the two previous Decembers -- but still well above the pre-pandemic percentage from December of 2019. The high percentage of multiple offers that we are seeing right now is a sign that 2023 will be another year of strong prices and heavy competition in the Madison area. 

Days on market

Marketing times are beginning to rise (slightly). In the big picture, days on market remain very low. The average days on market in January was only 33 days. 

Where will the market go in 2023? 

Here in the Madison area, we're anticipating another year of low supply and high prices, and we believe that these will be the two major themes in Dane County for the entire year. For much more background and information, we invite you to check out our 2023 predictions.