July home sales were down slightly compared with last year’s numbers, meaning that home sales have now lagged 2013 sales for six out of seven months this year.
The Wisconsin Realtors Association is reporting that this July’s home sales are 2.5 percent lower than home sales from last July. But WRA economist Dave Clark said those numbers need to be taken in context.
“July of 2013 was a pretty solid year,” Clark said. “So, you’re comparing to a relatively high base. And, to be only 2.4 percent below that is still indicative of a solid performance in terms of sales volume.”
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Clark said that the anemic sales coming out of winter can be blamed on the weather.
“Given the high snowfall and real harsh temperatures, those months were quite a bit lower than you would have expected,” he said.
Home prices were up in July, by 2.4 percent. Clark said that follows a gradual and sustainable trend seen over the past seven months. As for the rest of this year Clark expects sales to pick up and closely match last year’s numbers.
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