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Home sales in Winnebago County continue to slump
By Larry Avila • for The Northwestern • November 19, 2008

Home sales in Winnebago County were down 13 percent between July and September, slightly better than the statewide drop of 16.7 percent compared to last year.
The county joined most of northeast Wisconsin in a continuing home sales slide, according to data released Tuesday by the Wisconsin Realtors Association.
K.C. Maurer, with ReMax 24/7 in Appleton, said the Northeast Wisconsin MLS region logged 7,363 sales between January and September, down from 8,614 the same time last year.
"The (Multiple Listing Service) third quarter number (for northeast Wisconsin) is down 14.5 percent year-to-date," he said. "We still saw a lot of transactions, but it is down."
Winnebago County reported 423 sales, down 13 percent from 486 in 2007. Outagamie County logged 430 sales, down 18.4 percent from 527 a year ago, and Waupaca County recorded 116 transactions, down 25.6 percent from 156 last year.
Still, there were some bright spots.
Calumet County was among a dozen counties in Wisconsin that reported sales gains. A total of 109 homes were sold during the third quarter in Calumet County, a 4.8 percent increase from the same time a year ago when 104 homes sold.
Real estate experts could not pinpoint why some counties across the state saw gains in existing home sales between July and September, though no one is complaining.
"I cannot point to any single event," Maurer said.
David Clark, economist for C3 Statistical Solutions in Milwaukee, whose firm works with WRA in compiling sales data, said buyers still are sitting on the sidelines.
"Our belief is that it's the economy right now," he said. "Sellers are motivated but consumers are being cautious."
Maurer said while trends show sales are down, the data is showing some signs of improvement.
"Every month this year, the year-to-date numbers get a little better," he said. "None the less, they still are negative. The turnaround is slow in coming, but at least the slide is not continuing in the wrong direction and it seems like it's starting to turn in the right direction."