Archive
Vilas County Housing Sales Statistics
The Wisconsin Realtor’s Association has published March and 1st Quarter 2012 housing sales data and Vilas County reflects some amazing growth trends! While prices are remaining relatively flat over the last three months, we are seeing a substantial bump in number of sales. Vilas County has had more sales in the first quarter of 2012 than ANY 1st quarter in the last 7 years!
Number of Home Sales
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | YTD | |
| 2005 | 9 | 16 | 124 | 133 | 282 |
| 2006 | 60 | 130 | 144 | 115 | 449 |
| 2007 | 68 | 131 | 174 | 104 | 477 |
| 2008 | 44 | 84 | 93 | 82 | 303 |
| 2009 | 38 | 76 | 92 | 105 | 311 |
| 2010 | 47 | 113 | 109 | 101 | 370 |
| 2011 | 64 | 86 | 127 | 124 | 401 |
| 2012 | 82 | n/a | n/a | n/a | 82 |
Median Price
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | YTD | |
| 2005 | $200,500 | $169,250 | $227,500 | $264,500 | $244,000 |
| 2006 | $177,500 | $219,000 | $236,000 | $200,000 | $210,000 |
| 2007 | $225,000 | $210,000 | $209,950 | $193,750 | $210,000 |
| 2008 | $176,500 | $159,000 | $170,000 | $212,825 | $174,500 |
| 2009 | $240,000 | $149,950 | $178,500 | $192,000 | $178,000 |
| 2010 | $195,000 | $155,000 | $218,000 | $210,000 | $189,500 |
| 2011 | $145,500 | $164,000 | $188,000 | $176,975 | $175,000 |
| 2012 | $149,000 | n/a | n/a | n/a | $149,000 |
Sold dollar volume is also growing substantially — The Greater Northwoods MLS data reflects roughly a 30% increase over 1st quarter 2011.
We at Eliason Realty of the North, Inc. are also seeing a strong upward trend in sales activity. We are noticing buyer confidence improving with thoughts that we have reached the bottom and have nowhere to move now but up.
If you have been watching the market and thinking about making a move, now may be the time! Mortgage rates are still at all-time lows making any real estate purchase that much less costly in terms of your monthly cost to own.
We encourage you to get in touch with one of our seasoned real estate agents and explore the Northwoods marketplace this spring.
Meet Eliason Realty’s Eagle River and St Germain sales agents:
Eagle River Real Estate Sales Team: John Ariola, Keith DeVos, Denise Goldsworthy, Brian Hotmar, Bob Merz, John & Diane Misina, Brenda Schmidt, Debbie VanCaster, Norm Warner
St Germain Real Estate Sales Team: Ted Gregg, Bernie Kazda, Tim Kruse & Richelle Eliason Kruse, Rick Lovdal, Chris Nickolaou
Famous Smoky Lake Reserve for sale
The Smoky Lake Reserve.
Approx 5,909 acres of pristine and well managed timberland encompasses FIVE complete pristine lakes and partial ownership of a sixth lake! All the lakes, except Horseshoe Lake have a rustic northwoods cabin located on them and Moose Lake is home to the large main reserve’s lodge.
Just a few of the too many other features to list; 5,700 acres of this property is enclosed by a “high fence” as it has been used as an exclusive private hunting preserve, refuge to elk and whitetail deer. An extensive road system throughout, main caretaker’s home and garages at property entrance.
Beginning May 1, 2012 through June 30, 2012, this property will be open for showings, inspections, tours, private showings and for a due diligence period. All offers are due on June 30th to LO. Buyer is required to pay a 2% Buyer Premium Fee of the accepted purchase price.
NO OFFERS PRIOR TO OFFER DUE DATE. Contact LO for data information/due diligence packet, details and requirements.
Listed by: ELIASON REALTY OF THE NORTH
More Smoky Lake Reserve Listing Details Click Here
Get in touch with your Realtor now for further information about this once-in-a- lifetime opportunity.
Eliason Realty’s Eagle River and St Germain sales agents:
Eagle River Sales Team: John Ariola, Keith DeVos, Denise Goldsworthy, Brian Hotmar, Bob Merz, John & Diane Misina, Brenda Schmidt, Debbie VanCaster, Norm Warner
St Germain Sales Team: Ted Gregg, Bernie Kazda, Tim Kruse & Richelle Eliason Kruse, Rick Lovdal, Chris Nickolaou
Northwoods Town to Join High-Speed Internet World, by WJFW
While half of St Germain has had high-speed internet available by way of DSL from Frontier (formerly Verizon) since 2005, areas north of Highway 70, east and west of Highway 155, welcome the SonicNet tower and expanding services by Frontier and ChoiceTel in 2012. Many real estate buyers need to locate where high-speed internet is reliable to facilitate their business needs as well as their family’s demands for the service.
The following story ran tonight on our local NBC affiliate, interviewing our Managing Broker, Richelle Kruse:
St. Germain – High-speed Internet is notorious for being unavailable to much of the Northwoods.
But St. Germain residents and business owners will soon have better internet service with the construction of a 150 foot tower meant to provide Wi-Fi coverage for the whole area.
“There’s a lot of people that are going to be awfully happy.”
Elmer Mages manages the Whitetail Lodge in St. Germain, where most people who call to make reservations ask if they provide internet access. “Today of course, everyone has to be connected; that’s just the way it is. So if we don’t offer something that’s satisfactory to them it becomes a bit of an issue,” says Mages.
But the lodge is out on HWY 70, where they don’t even get DSL. North of HWY 70 and west of 151 is no-man’s land, where dial-up is slow, and other options are few.
“You can go out and buy a high-speed data link an some of the bigger companies have done that. But for the Mom and Pop resort owner, or restaurant owner it’s really not feasible for them to do that,” says Bill Neider, Executive Director of the St. Germain Chamber of Commerce.
At the Whitetail they offer WiFi to guests, but during the tourist season, since it’s from a satellite, the increased traffic can make that connection really slow.
” It’s very accommodating when there’s a few people here. When there’s a lot of people here it can become a real aggravation,” says Mages.
Thanks to the new contract with SonicNet, the entire area will have the option of WiFi, helping not just the tourism industry, but the real estate market as well.
“We have had customers only buy in areas that have high-speed internet. So the fact that St. Germain is getting it will definitely increase the salability of our listings in this area,” says Richelle Kruse, Managing Broker at the St. Germain office of Eliason Realty.
And competition between existing DSL provider Frontier and SonicNet will help.
“Multiple vendors now opens up new doors for people,” says Neider.
“People who have been regulars here for 17 years are going to be very happy. Because they can stop asking about it,” says Mages.
Some business owners seem a little hesitant to get excited yet… internet in St. Germain has been promised for a long time. But Neider says the tower could be ready with that WiFi signal in as little as four months.
http://www.wjfw.com/print_story.html?SKU=20120314181349
http://www.wjfw.com/video_center.html – video of Newscast
– Shared by Eliason Realty of the North, of Vilas County, WI. Meet our Eagle River and St Germain sales agents.
Eagle River Sales Team: John Ariola, Keith DeVos, Denise Goldsworthy, Brian Hotmar, Bob Merz, John & Diane Misina, Brenda Schmidt, Debbie VanCaster, Norm Warner
St Germain Sales Team: Ted Gregg, Bernie Kazda, Tim Kruse & Richelle Eliason Kruse, Rick Lovdal, Chris Nickolaou
Property foreclosures down in Vilas and Oneida in 2011
| Property foreclosures down in Vilas and Oneida in 2011 |
|
By Gary Ridderbusch News-Review Editor Mortgage foreclosure filings in Vilas and Oneida counties dropped 17% in 2011, ending a four-year climb for the number of filings, court records show. The drop in filings is good news for a slow residential real estate market, which is still working through an abundance of foreclosed homes, according to Peggy Johnson-Wiessner, president of the Northwoods Association of Realtors. “If we have seen the peak of the new filings and this is not just a temporary dip, it should mean we can get the foreclosures sold, and we can get the prices up (on other listings),” said Johnson-Wiessner. In Vilas and Oneida counties last year, there were 379 filings compared with 458 in 2010 — when the foreclosure filings peaked out. The 2011 figure was even lower than 2009, when there were 420 filings. Court records from the two counties show there were 331 filings in 2008 and 263 in 2007. Foreclosure filings in both counties dropped in 2011, with Oneida County posting a 23% drop from 265 in 2010 to 204 last year. Vilas County filings fell 9% from 193 in 2010 to 175 last year. Vilas County saw a steady increase in foreclosure filings starting in 2007, when there were 94 filings. That figure climbed to 137 in 2008 and 166 in 2009 before peaking out at 193 in 2010. Oneida County also saw a steady climb as the nation’s economy struggled late in the decade, with 169 foreclosure filings in 2007, 194 in 2008, 254 in 2009 and the filings peaked out at 265 in 2010. Economists say the slower pace of filings eventually should help restore a more normal housing market, but there still are too many foreclosed homes for sale, according to Johnson-Wiessner. “We still have a tremendous amount on the market,” she said. “That forces us to drive down prices.” Johnson-Wiessner said with a glut of foreclosed properties on the market and banks just looking to get their money back from the mortgage, the prices drop on the other properties. “Normally, the lender is the successful bidder on the foreclosed properties, and they are in it to just recoup the mortgage,” she said. “The seller has to compete with those declining prices.” The foreclosure figures are for civil cases filed in the county circuit court offices using the class code of a foreclosure. An office spokesperson in the Vilas County Clerk of Circuit Court office noted that some of the cases could have gone to bankruptcy and dismissed, or the property owner could have come to an agreement with the lender. Nonetheless, the figures give an indication to the trend in mortgage foreclosures on residential properties, condominiums and vacant land. Economists say a gradual improvement in the labor market should provide some support for the housing market in the North Woods. Real estate professionals say that as people gain confidence in the economy in the cities, they tend to purchase second homes and cabins in the North Woods. Johnson-Wiessner said the drop in the mortgage foreclose filings is something positive for the North Woods real estate industry. “As least if we are not adding new filings at the same rate, maybe that’s a positive,” she said. Meanwhile, Johnson-Wiessner said there is more good news for the North Woods real estate industry. “Overall, we have seen an increase in sales in 2011 in the number of units sold,” she said. For people looking to purchase a home, real estate professionals note fixed-rate mortgages are at record lows. The interest rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage is about 3.875% from lenders. |
Vilas County Wisconsin’s Natural Areas
Natural Areas in Vilas County
Vilas County is home to a number of natural treasures. Many of these gems are protected through the Wisconsin’s State Natural Area program. Several of these natural areas protect plant and animal communities found nowhere else in the state.
Map of State Natural Areas in Vilas County — Download Map.
If you know the name of the Natural Area you’d like to visit, just click on link below to learn more.
Northern Lights – Jack Fredericks
Sunset – Chris Tews
- Lake Alva Birch-Hemlock
- Lake Laura Hardwoods
- Lost Canoe
- Mary Lake
- Nixon Lake
- Papoose Creek Pines
- Pat Shay Lake
- Plum Lake Hemlock Forest
- Pine-Oak Grove
- Rice Creek
- Spruce Grouse Swamp
- Trout Lake Conifer Swamp
- Trout River
http://www.vilaswi.com/outdoor-fun/natural-areas/
There’s always something more to explore in and around Vilas County! Take time discover these northwoods gems.
– shared by Eliason Realty of the North, Inc., with realty offices in Eagle River, WI and St Germain, WI. www.eliasonrealty.com | Meet our real estate sales professionals: Eagle River WI Office | St Germain WI Office
Check out US Home Prices Could Still Fall a Lot More: Shiller – CNBC
Real Estate Rebound in the Northwoods?
Don’t look now but some things are starting to show some pretty good signs of a bounce back in sales. For those of you who did not see the news report by channel 12 the other night, it showed that home sales in Wisconsin were down 7.5%, yet the Northern Region was up 4.6%. Specifically, Oneida County sales were up 14.7% and Vilas County sales were up 19% in 2010.
One thing that was not distinguished in the story was the difference between sales and sale prices. When we hear a story based on a set of numbers (like sales in this story) it is easy to draw conclusions that are incomplete. Some might think this means the prices are well on their way back and many people will confuse sales with sale prices. Sale is one piece of the picture we need to look at but not the entire picture. When we only look at a piece of a picture and try to draw a conclusion, you might not know what you are looking at or worse, think you are looking at something you are not. When we look at sales for single family homes and condominiums in the Northwoods we see that the average sales price for 2010 was roughly $172,000 vs. $165,000 in 2009. This is a 4.2% increase. As we look at the Median (taking the middle number of a series of numbers.), we see that in 2010 the Median number was roughly $132,000 vs. $125,000 in 2009. A 5.6% increase. These are very valuable pieces of information that show that sales prices are moving forward in the Northwoods, despite the fact that they are not moving as fast as sales.
You may have seen the last couple of interviews with Diana Olick (from Realty Check) on CNBC that I posted on the Eliason Realty blog recently. She pointed out there were signs showing sales were starting to pick up nationally, despite the fact that prices don’t appear to be recovering. She was not surprised by this at all. In fact, she seemed to have expected it. She reminded all of us that “sales and prices are directly related and . . . sales always lead prices”. She states that during the boom, sales started going down and prices were still going up. She reported then that this was unsustainable. She also said that the sales will lead the prices when it comes to recovering. Nationally, prices are still going down slightly, but sales have started to go up. For three months straight there have been increases in both pending and existing sales. With this in mind, Diana says “maybe it’s the beginning of the curb and maybe it is time to get back in. You will never time the exact bottom of the market.” Continued increases in sales numbers will make her believe in this position even more so.
So here are some more pieces of the picture, but it is still not complete. We need to see what is going to happen to foreclosures. We also have to realize, as I have said many times before, that Real Estate is always a local market. So how do Diana’s comments apply to real estate in the Northwoods?
All expectations are that foreclosures will be similar to slightly higher in 2011 nation wide than they were in 2010. Yet, locally, in the Northwoods I don’t know that we are expecting foreclosures to go up in 2011. I have spoken to a couple of bankers about this. They are expecting foreclosures to go down on their books in 2011. One of the bankers I spoke to also said they feel the Northwoods does not see the high highs or the low lows that other places get. With this in mind, he said our unemployment and foreclosures have been better than the rest of Wisconsin and the nation. So, we feel that the Northwoods foreclosures will be no worse than or similar to 2010, we have to take that as a positive sign with the rest of the data we are collecting.
In addition, there are some signs there is a lot of money on the sideline. Nationally we heard that 58% of the people don’t feel real estate will rebound until 2012. 20% feel it will not be until 2015. Only 10% feel there will be a rebound begun in 2011. On www.EliasonRealty.com last week we asked what 2011 will bring to the Northwoods real estate market. Over 55 people participated here were the results.
- 32% felt the prices were going to be flat
- 23% felt declines of 3% – 9% were likely
- 38% felt the declines would be 10% or greater
- Only 7% of the people felt there would be 3% gain or greater
So what does all of this negativity mean? It certainly seems to indicate that the confidence is not there to get people “off the fence” to buy real estate just yet. It may sound strange but this can be a huge positive. When everyone is negative, that means few people are buying. This means there are far less buyers than sellers and prices are going to have to go down to generate sales. When this happens in the stock market, typically the bottom is often signaled by a time when there is significant negative confidence (tops are also found at times when there is significant positive confidence).
With all of this in mind, what do I think? This is what I said in my Market Report in early 2010.
“I believe we will continue to see the volume and units of real estate sold continue to increase over that time. So won’t that push prices higher as well? Eventually it will. Despite the positive moves so far in 2010 and the fact that I believe these trends will continue, I believe we will see this buyers market continue at least through the spring of 2011. This is because I believe prices will have trouble getting good traction until we are able to reduce the inventory of properties.”
I predict 2011 will mark the bottom of the Northwoods Real Estate prices. That is a big prediction. I realize trying to call a bottom is very hard. Yet, everything I am seeing says that 2011 will likely push out the majority of pressures that are pushing our market down. The recovery will not be quick from here and won’t see 10% appreciation on prices year after year from this point on. I suspect the Northwoods will show 2% – 5% price increases off of the Median and Mean averages and that sales have 10% – 15% increases in 2011.
Check out Housing Turnaround or Double-Dip? – CNBC.com
Upcoming Winter Activities in the Northwoods.
January 7-9, 2011 Classic Vintage Weekend in Eagle River at the Derby track. Join hundreds of vintage racers at the races voted most fun event by SnoGoer magazine!
January 8, 2011 11th Annual Original Northwoods Polar Bear Plunge – At St. Germain Lodge & Resort. Plunge begins at noon. Call for pledge sheets and registration form. To benefit Angel on My Shoulder, a non-profit cancer support foundation. In 2009, an astonishing $29,000+ was raised by 144 jumpers and over 1,000 spectators to benefit Camp Angel/Camp Teen Angel and other programs of Angel On My Shoulder. For more information, visit http://www.angelonmyshoulder.org or email them at angel@nnex.net. (715) 542-3433 (800) 860-3431
January 15 & 16, 2011 World Championship Kitty Kat Races – Black Bear Lodge Held on Little St. Germain Lake. Wisconsin Kids Snowmobile Racing Association or WKSRA information from Black Bear Lodge
January 14-16, 2011 AMSOIL World Championship Snowmobile Derby, in Eagle River.
January 21& 22, 2011 Snowmobile Radar Run, in St. Germain on Lt. St. Germain Lake. Visit http://www.radarracers.com for more information.
February 2 & 3, 2011 Vogel Enterprises Groomer Show – Equipment displays and demonstrations from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Food served by the Bo-Boen Snowmobile Club. (715) 479-4200
February 11- 13, 2011 National Adult Pond Hockey Championships on Dollar Lake in Eagle River; named the recipient of SportTravel Magazine’s 2009 SportsTravel Award for the nation’s best amateur single-sport event. Watch exciting hockey action as more than 200 teams compete on 24 lake rinks for the National Championship. Click here for complete tournament information
February 18-20, 2011 Save A Star 2nd Annual Winter Weekend Getaway at Black Bear Lodge. Everyone is welcome to attend this great event to help raise money to increase awareness of the dangers associated with improper prescription drug use.
February 19, 2011 27th Ride With The Champs – Join us in St. Germain for the nnual inductions into the Snowmobile Hall of Fame. Ride with past and present race champions and snowmobile VIP’s, and then attend the induction ceremony.For information, visit http://www.snowmobilehalloffame.com, email info@snowmobilehalloffame.com or call (715) 542-4488
February 19&20, 2011 Great Northern Sno-Cross Series, in Eagle River.
February 26, 2011 Bo-Boen Hosted Vintage Snowmobile Race Held at the St. Germain Community Park with registration at 7:00 AM and racing starting at 10:00 AM, this event is hosted by the Bo-Boen Snowmobile Club. There will be food and drinks available. Part of the Northern Vintage Snowmobile Race Series. For details, visit the NVSRS website at http://www.nvsrs.org or email them at info@nvsrs.org. (715) 493-4981 or (715) 272-1722
February 26, 2011 Great Northern Sno-Cross Series, in Eagle River.
March 5 & 6, 2011 Klondike Days – Voted Wisconsin’s #1 Winter Festival! Held in Eagle River, take a trip back to the pioneer days with River Red’s Rendezvous, witness an actual Lumberjack competition and learn about our great history with the Native American cultural exposition. Sleigh rides, dog sled races, snowshoe races, food, arts and crafts, the list goes on and on! Visit Klondike Days.org or call 1-800-359-6315
March 19, 2011 3rd Annual Ice Golf Tournament At The Black Bear Lodge Benefiting the Vilas County Food Pantry. Held from 9am – 2pm on Little St. Germain Lake. Includes 9 holes of golf, appetizer spread at the Bear’s Den, trophies, raffles and door prizes. Special package prices available! Click for more information
March 18-20, 2011 Ice Masters 3 on 3 Hockey Tournament – Held at the Eagle River Ice Arena. For more information contact Randy Athens at 715-479-3471
Welcome to 2011
Eliason Realty would like to welcome everyone into the New Year and wish you a excellent 2011. As far as the Northwoods real estate market goes, 2010 was slightly better than 2009. We here are expecting 2011 to end up being similar to slightly higher than 2010 for our sales volume. Yet, the difference we see is 2011 is that this could be the year the market stabilizes a bottom for the Northwoods. We expect foreclosures to be similar to slightly higher but believe as this year weeds through the worst of it, confidence will start to rise. People will see the light at the end of the tunnel and the turn will finally begin.
We realize that real estate is largely a local market, but below are a couple of recent articles from CNBC on the latest National and big city reports.
CASE-SHILLER COMPOSITE INDEX
U.S. single-family home prices fell for a fourth straight month in October pressured by a supply glut, home foreclosures and high unemployment, data from a closely watched survey showed Tuesday.
The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas declined 1.0 percent in October from September on a seasonally adjusted basis, a much steeper drop than the 0.6 percent fall expected by economists.
The decline built on a revised decrease of 1.0 percent in September and took prices down 0.8 percent from year-ago levels. It was the first year-on-year drop in the index since January.
The housing market has been struggling since home buyer tax credits expired earlier this year. To take advantage of the tax credits, buyers had to sign purchase contracts by April 30.
“The (housing) double dip is almost here, as six cities set new lows for the period since 2006 peaks. There is no good news in October’s report,” said David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P.
Eighteen of the 20 cities showed weaker year-on-year readings in October and all 20 cities showed monthly price declines.
Unadjusted for seasonal impact, the 20-city index fell 1.3 percent in October after a 0.8 percent decline in September.
NEW CONSTRUCTION
Despite the fact that sales of newly constructed home bumped up 5.5 percent in November, month to month, one analyst was prompted to call it, “Another Miserable Report.”
Patrick Newport over at IHS Global Insight noted that while the seasonal adjustments pushed the numbers up, in reality November’s actual sales volume was the lowest ever recorded.
Even the National Association of Home Builders couldn’t muster much enthusiasm. “The gain represents a partial bounce-back from a near-record low, downwardly revised number of new-home sales in October,” went their release.
“While builders continue to face a great deal of competition from short-sale and foreclosure properties, the improvement registered in new-home sales in November is a good sign,” said Bob Jones, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders.
Still, the builders are concerned about lack of credit to build new homes. They claim that when demand surges, they will not have product to offer. This even as the Commerce Department reported an 8.2 month supply of newly constructed homes at the current sales pace, but the current sales pace is pretty awful.
As we came to the end of 2010, I was asked to do all kinds of prediction pieces, which I dutifully did. Neither I, nor anyone who studies housing, can make any promises in this market. There is simply no historical context with which to judge.
“Inventory management continues to improve. The number of new homes for sale fell to the lowest level since 1968.,” notes Newport. “And though the turnover rate—the median time it takes to sell a new home—inched up 0.1 month, to 8.2 months, this is a vast improvement over March 2010, when the turnover rate hit an all-time high of 14.4 months.”
As we came to the end of 2010, I was asked to do all kinds of prediction pieces, which I dutifully did. We picked some stocks, looked at sectors and geographic regions, and noted the headwinds.
Neither I, nor anyone who studies housing, can make any promises in this market. There is simply no historical context with which to judge.
I continue to believe that while we can argue ’til we’re blue about credit, government incentives, fraud and blame, the fate of the housing market lies in confidence. The minute Americans see a real reason for hope, a lift from the bottom—and a potential for profit— housing will come roaring back.
Eliason Realty of the North Blog 