You make a good point, I can't argue with your logic 👍

being homeless is terrible on so many more levels than not having a place to sleep. Fortunatley MKE is doing a pretty good job supporting people who are in this situation, which is why you don't see it as many as in other cities. I am right now in Seattle, but I have seen it in DC, LA, NYC, Denver and Phoenix come to mind. Getting a roof over your head and making it a "home" is the first goal. Buying and owning it eventually free and clear should be the second.

@@MarcusMKE finding someone a place to sleep is not helpful.. if you live in a homeless shelter or with someone else you are still homeless 🎯🎯 there’s enough space and resources for everyone to have their own home 🎯🎯

Not for single family homes, there are only very few. Condo market is at 101.7% list to sale and prices are up 7.8%

Oconomowoc is very hot, I don't think that surprises anyone. List to sale price is 102.6% and median sales price is up by 12.6%.

Congratulations! Oak Creek is a great community! The numbers are a bit inconsistent, both median and average sales prices are down 1.3% and 1.5% respectively YTD. What's interesting is that for sale inventory is basically half of what it was a year ago, which will probably start to drive up the sale to list ratio and also median sold prices.

I have heard that rumor too, but most SF are taxed around $3000 at a 200-250k property value. That does not seems in line with many of the other MKE County tax rates. Brown Deer for example is definitly higher. I own a property in WM since 2008 and always liked it. Not many sales, so list to sale ratio all over the map, but mostly over 100-105% - like West Allis. Currently only 2 listings thats it.

@MarcusMKE the problem with WM, BD, and SF is that they can't expand their city or village limits by annexation, which not much land to develop.

@@jfadrowski1 that is also MKE's issue, which is why we don't see much new construction inside the city. I hope that GrowingMKE will result in updates to the zoning code setting off a trend of new- and re-development.

@MarcusMKE I am also excited about it. Very ambitious of the city looking forward.

Thanks Alejandro, it's all in the data. If you have any particular questions, let me know. I also love debunking myths. With data :-)

I looked at Fox Point and we know it well, my wife used to teach there for almost 20 years. The sold to list ratio has steadily been declining over the last 12 months from about 104% to now 99%. Median sales price down 5.45% from 550k to 520k. But with only 65 houses sold this year, I am not sure if that data is representative. The median list price is up 24% so no wonder. But we only have 14 listings at the moment and a third of them is over 1.5M so you get a huge swing in these numbers. Fox Point is a VERY desirable area to live and a really good example why I exclude small markets - the data needs more "interpretation" beyond a simple number. Great question - thanks for asking!

I am actually not sure how i would answer that question. You probably have an opinion. Can we hear it?

Well, the winters are nice in SoCal! But if and when you want to talk more about moving send me an email m.auerbach@kw.com

From Milwaukee born and raised. Moved to Houston 11 years ago. Making plans on moving back within the next month

@@1WriterGaming.Official what are your main reasons for moving back? Family, job or weather?

@@MarcusMKE Weather and Job

@@1WriterGaming.Official makes sense, I hear that a lot. Family is next and clients who are visiting often tell me that people are so nice here, which never ceases to amaze me that they point it out, I guess you get used to it

Thank you for the comment and glad to hear Joshua, and of course: welcome to Mequon! Maybe I'll run into you at Sediks or the Public Market. But I have to ask you this: where did you find your real estate agent?

@@MarcusMKE ​​⁠ we initially were thought we wanted to buy in Delafield, so went went with Katy from Keller Williams over there and she did a great job. BTW, my mother-in-law may be selling in South Milwaukee and maybe I could contact you about that.

Sure thing. My email is m.auerbach@kw.com

I think rents are still too low to make it viable for agents to find apartments in MKE like I have seen this for example in NYC. But you are usually just fine looking on Zillow

Well done! And it will continue to go up in value while your payment will remain the same for 30 years until you own it free and clear!

Nope what?

Aww, wish I could help you. You need 3.5% down with FHA, we can look into WHEDA to cover the difference. So there are ways, but a word of caution here as well: owning a home also comes with expenses. You want to paint, or you need a new water heater. You can feel confident about those things when you are able to save up for a down payment. Renting for more than a year is about as financially smart as eating out every day - yes it keeps you flexible, but you have nothing to show for the money you spent. Most people spend at least 250k in rent before they buy their first home...

@@MarcusMKE I’m from California so my perception of real estate and down payments are warped. Here, a down payment can equal what some houses do in MKE. I think I can get 10-15k together for a down in about a year- would that be feasible for a decent house in MKE market? Thank you for all your insight!

Happy to hear that and welcome to MKE! And BTW - winter is not anymore what it used to be. Mostly just brown grass instead of snow.

Thank you! Your comments and likes really help the channel!

You are right, it does. Builders are mostly interested in keeping their business steady, builders flip between too much work and not enough, very hard to manage for them in cash flow and very hard on their crews: they can flex only 10-20% up or down in work hours. The Milwaukee metro area could easily absorb a housing stock growth of 5000 units per year, which would only be about 1%. In order to dig ourselves out of the (housing shortage) hole we are in, we could use probably 2% for the next 5 to 10 years. We are nowhere near that level, which keeps upward pressure on home prices. The other issues is zoning. We would need land zoned for smaller houses, closer together with city sewer and city water to build homes for under 400k, so they are affordable. If the zoning project Growing MKE (see video from a couple weeks ago) is successful, we might actually see the construction of townhomes in Milwaukee , which cost much less to build than a big single family on 3 acres and help create the walkable neighborhoods everyone loves..

But if they build 5 times more homes they would still make a lot more money, even on a smaller profit margin

@@marcusbluedanubeproperties5964 You're right. However this is the classic example of fast nickel VS's slow time. Over the long run they stand to make MILLIONS more on NOT putting up 2000 homes in a year. Belinski homes in my area are $550,000 and up. It would be impossible to to ask that much if they built 10:1.

@@MarcusMKE They should take all the money they want to spend on the new zoning project and make Milwaukee a safer city. This will make people want to actually live in the city and make builders want to invest time and resources building housing. Milwaukee (proper) is losing residents every single year and it's not because housing is unaffordable. It's because of all the crime and the ghettos spilling out into once nice neighborhoods. (glendale, tosa)

@@LookitsRiley Crime, poverty, MPS, reckless driving etc... many issues that really need to be worked on for the reasons you describe. But I don't think it is one or the other, we need to do both. Fortunately it does not cost much to fix zoning, just rules on paper. We do have quite a few MKE proper neighborhoods that are very high in demand, take Brewers Hill, Riverwest and of course Bay View, downtowner the lower East Side and the Thrid Ward as examples. So, not easy but possible for individual MKE neighborhoods to be desirable. The reason why Tosa is so popular is because it is doing well/better in all the issues listed above - plus it is a walkable neighborhood, which is a function of historic zoning. You can actually walk to a restaurant, have a few drinks and walk home without worry. Of course people like that!

Thank you!

Yes, we have a strong seasonal pattern in Milwaukee. I have made several videos on the topic tp explain details, but in a nut shell everyone wants to buy a house in spring and very few people around Thanksgiving - lower demand makes for more days on market and ultimately lower offers. You can see this very clear when you look at the average list to sale price ratio. At the moment almost 103% and in November we were at 98%

@@marcusbluedanubeproperties5964 which video, can you link me? We are planning a move to Milwaukee in the next 1-2 years and your channel is great info. You are one of the most analytical realtors I have come across! Great work!!

Yes! There is so much to consider, it takes a lot to gain broad support for any major change! I have a lot of respect for the team, dealing with the public I can only imagine the amount of criticism they face, and I am not thinking of the constructive kind...

Two tough issues, not easy to fix. Maybe MPS needs to be broken up into smaller units to improve, IDK. And yes, the reckless driving needs to stop. Parts of MKE do quite well, take Bay View, the Lower East Side, Washington Heights, Brewers Hill or River West for example. A lot of homes in those areas sell with 5 or 10 offers, so they are quite in demand actually. But not all areas can and will evolve at the same time. It will take decades. And to your point, some may never. But what I like is the de-regulation of our zoning code. Too much gov. This will allow for private investments from local small-scale developers and then we can see if the people of MKE have it in them

@@MarcusMKE I think you make some excellent points. And I do believe it is a positive move with zoning. I watch your videos because you provide excellent insights. I love Milwaukee and it made me sad to leave my first house in Johnson woods. Though I do love my oak creek house.

@@alexbernstein1450 Thank you! When I talk about Milwaukee I usually refer to the metro area and Oak Creek is great! Things are changing. Who would have thought 5 years ago that West Allis would be the #1 hottest market in the area measured in % over list price sold? Glad you like my content, please mention it to your friends and give videos a like - really helps it grow!

It wont be quick, will prob take a decade or two, but I believe MKE can do it

Absolutely! Milwaukee's real estate market can be intense, but we're not quite at John Wick levels yet. Maybe I should start including a chapter on finding the perfect tailor for custom bulletproof boxers.. What's your size?

@@InvestMKE 48 Long .

Hard to say for sure. I subscribe to a lot of institutional-grade research and expert opinions differ. One thing I am pretty sure about this will take a while to work out. Money supply M2 has not come down much, and most importantly it is near impossible for inflation to get down to 2% as long as "shelter" (rent & home prices) make up 44% of it, because until we have fixed the housing supply issue rents and prices are being pushed up. We had a lender panel last night at the RPA and the consensus was that we might see a "symbolic" rate cut before the election, which would signal a change in direction, but not a meaningful reduction. We shall see.

yeah, not only Greendale. All of Milwaukee. It is entirely possible to build streets that don't crumble from the frost, but for some reason, we opt for a cheap 5 year patch and then act surprised when we have pot holes...

They have been "up and coming" for about 30 years. Progress is significant, but good idea to manage expectations about the pace

Thanks for the comment! It was great spending some time with you last weekend here in MKE! See you after May 7th!

Nothing wrong. A lot of owners wanted to sell their home last year and did not, because of rates (they have a low rate, they don't want to give up). So there is listing backlog from last year, they have been waiting for the spring market to list. Waukesha County inventory is at 339 single family homes, up only 12% from March last year. At current pace at least 250 will be sold in the next 4 weeks. But I know what you mean, if 5 ForSale signs pop up on one street, it sure looks like something's up... ;-)

@@InvestMKE thanks for insight I will share your videos with people here at work you provide good info. I guess in the real world 12 % from last March or 12 months isn't bad or abnormal .

@@anthonyparish3034 Correct. We generally have a chronic housing shortage that we have self-inflicted by under-building for the last 14 years. It takes a long time for underbuilding to really show an impact, so for the first 10 years we did not notice too much, just in the last 4-5 years it has gotten to the point where it is very noticeable. Problem is, it will take almost as long to correct the issue, as it took us to create it. But that's maybe for another video ;-)

Great question! Actually, prices have increased about 100% from 2015 to 2024. Most people find it unbelievable when they hear it first, but it's a fact. And Milwaukee has been one of the slower markets! MLS data (what I reference in the beginning) may be more accurate than Redfin data (the charts at the end), but they show roughly the same. The chart you reference with Boston is deceptive because it makes Milwaukee look very flat. The next chart a few seconds later shows the same data, but MKE vs national average. And there you can see to scale how prices have indeed doubled in MKE. PS: be careful when you compare The City of Milwaukee vs Milwaukee County vs Milwaukee Metro - not the same, but easily mistaken.

Frankly, not many. And it takes a lot of practice to get it right consistently. Whenever we teach classes for agents the "CMA" course is always packed.. Once my clients say they love the house, my next two steps are always a call to the listing agent to find out as much as possible (and also to establish report) and then put a CMA together, so we know FMV.

Certainly not typical. You may have skipped over min 4:40 - that's the original old Menomonee Falls, I believe you are referring to. 1,150 sqft ranches with 3 bedrooms and 1 bath built in the 1950s. The bigger homes at the end of the video were built in the last 10-20 years. Also, not everyone who lives in a newer home is a snob ;-)

@@MarcusMKE I watched it all...twice. Have lived here most of my 68 years.

That's great! You must like it?

Thx! See you in Milwaukee Jeff!

100%, this is the Midwest and not FL for sure! River Hills is very affluent, but with a population of only 1,500 and is because of its size not a significant real estate market for most people who are moving to Milwaukee. Also, property taxes exceed 50k in some cases. If you want to spend this kind of money, the question is would you rather live in Elm Grove?

@@MarcusMKE No, I wouldn't live in Elm Grove either. Mequon is a good option for people looking for good schools and who don't want to travel far to Milwaukee. Otherwise it's just overpriced because of the prestige status that goes with it. There are other quite similar suburbs where you can stretch your dollar a bit farther like Grafton, Cedarburg or Menomonee Falls.