Many times we get consumed with all of the doom and gloom we read about in the housing market by the national media. It's easy to get sucked into this thinking. With the overheated markets in California, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Florida - house prices are falling rapidly because they rose too fast and there too many people buying on speculation and never occupying these homes. We have to remember, Wisconsin and Milwaukee has always had a tradition of being very stable in the housing market. We now have some facts to back that up - so we can all just take a deep breath.
Here's a good reality check for all of us homeowners in the Milwaukee metro area - property values grew at a good, normal pace in 2007. Now, this isn't like the fast appreciation we saw in 2005 and 2006 where in most counties pricing appreciation was above 10% per year - but it's great news nonetheless.
In a report just released by the Public Policy Forum - here's what they found for 2007:
Walworth County, 10.5%
Ozaukee County, 6.6%
Washington County, 5.7%
Racine County, 5.6%
Milwaukee County, 5.5%
Waukesha County, 5.1%
Whether you're buying or selling a home - this is good news for all.
