Appleton ranked top housing market in U.S. by Wall Street Journal, Realtor.com

The Appleton area has the top housing market in the U.S., according to a recent study from the Wall Street Journal and Realtor.com. Appleton ranked second in its summer rankings behind South Bend-Mishawaka, Ind.

“Appleton’s top ranking reflects a broad set of strengths rather than one standout metric, including a strong local economy, relatively low housing and living costs, steady demand, improving inventory and a high quality of life,” said Hannah Jones, senior economist at Realtor.com.

Northeast Wisconsin realtors say the housing market has significantly loosened in the past year.

“Our inventory has come up, which has created a lot of good opportunities for buyers to get into the market,” said Mike Kunesh, Owner/Broker of Place Perfect Realty and Board Member of the Realtors Association of Northeast Wisconsin (RANW).

Sellers have enjoyed a strong market for several years, but that’s starting to shift toward buyers.

“I’ll prepare (sellers), ‘Don’t be shocked if you’re going to be sitting on the market 30, 40, 50 days,'” said Jill Coenen, Century 21 Ace realtor. “Because that buyer pool is smaller, and it’s just taking longer.”

Is Appleton better than Green Bay and Oshkosh?

“I’d say the hotspot has always been the Valley, Neenah to Kaukauna,” said Coenen. “In my opinion, that’s where things move a little bit quicker… Oshkosh takes a little longer. Green Bay, it’s just bigger.”

Those two cities are still both considered strong housing markets — Green Bay ranked No. 14 on a ranking earlier this year.

Will the new political rule alter the housing market?

I also asked whether the midterms could impact the housing market.

“I believe it might have some effect, although you have to remember housing for the most part is a bipartisan issue,” said Kunesh. “And the federal government passed the 21 Century Road to Housing Act.”

He explained what will happen if Wisconsin adopts it.

“You’re going to find mandates that require smaller lot sizes to create more affordability in housing,” said Kunesh. “You’re going to see it easier to convert buildings, whether it’s an old school, a church, a mall into housing. You’re going to find barriers lifted that make it requisites to have to do those things to help end the housing crisis.

Locally, it appears to be an improving crisis with Appleton leading the way.