Community Matters: Taking the Pulse of the Local Real Estate Market

Feb. 9, 2020 11:15a

(WGTD)---Chaotic…is a word that’s being used to describe aspects of the residential real estate market in Kenosha and Racine counties.

Alicia Chovan is President of the Southshore Realtors Association and has been a realtor in the Kenosha area for nearly 20 years. She was Len Iaquinta’s guest on Community Matters this past Saturday.

The housing shortage has led to sellers in the low and mid-ends of the market getting multiple offers within hours of posting a listing. "It's created a bit of chaos--excitement obviously but also chaos," she said.

Sometimes there's anxiety on the other end of the sale, with buyers wondering if they paid too much. Sometimes sellers, for whatever reason, don't have their next home lined up quite yet because their existing home sold so fast. "It's definitely created some challenges," Chovan said.

Chovan doesn’t see things cooling off anytime soon, what with continued growth in the industrial sector. 

Commenting on the rental market, Chovan said economic conditions in recent years have led to a big boom in apartment construction and have sent rents skyrocketing.

In addition, low interest rates have meant buyers are able to afford bigger homes.

There's additional fallout because of high student loan debt. Some younger residents are living in their parents’ homes longer.

Click here for the full show. 

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