Lou Ann Brandstetter moved into her new home Thursday, which she bought sight unseen to beat out the competition.
She learned about the home in Waterford from some good friends in the neighborhood and made an offer within 24 hours.
“I know I had to snap it up just like that,” Brandstetter said, snapping her fingers, “Because the housing market here is so tight for condos.”
“If I didn’t snap it up quickly, it would’ve been someone else’s home,” she added.
TMJ4’s Tahleel Mohieldin spoke with Brandstetter’s realtor, Renata Greely with Shorewest, to gain insight into Racine's housing market.
Watch: New homeowner, realtors talk housing market in Racine County
“I truly believe that we're still in a sellers' market,” Greely explained.
Greely said there’s a lack of inventory in the housing market, meaning demand is higher than supply. However, that could soon change with mortgage rates starting to come down. This might lead homeowners who were reluctant to sell because they bought their homes at a good rate a few years back to reconsider.
Jeremy Rynders with Keller Williams Realty believes that shift has already begun. While he, too, considers it a sellers' market, he believes it’s moving toward buyers.
“The discussion was, ‘OK, we love this house. How much over asking are we going to have to pay to get it?’” he explained. “Now the discussion is, ‘Hey, we like this house. Do you think it’s priced right?’”
The condo in Waterford is Brandstetter’s first property owned alone. After her husband passed, she wanted to downsize, so a mortgage wasn’t part of the process.
Still, Brandstetter said she experienced sticker shock when shopping for and buying her new home.
In 2017, Brandstetter and her husband sold their almost 3,000-square-foot home on 7 acres, also in Waterford, for roughly $489,000.
Fast forward to 2024: for her 1,400-square-foot condo, she paid about $390,000.
“My experience is that yes, prices have increased, but we’re still seeing people purchasing homes,” Greely said.
In August 2024, the median home price in Racine County was about $290,000, according to Rynders, up about $20,000 from the month before and about $50,000 from the year prior.
Still, Greely said Racine County is faring better than its neighbors.
“I see a lot more of that impact for the market increasing very, very abruptly in Milwaukee County and Waukesha County,” she explained. “I would say that we’re more conservative."
Both Greely and Rynders agree a big factor for many buyers is the rising cost of rent, with people finding they can get more for their money owning a home versus paying a landlord.
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