Homes sales increased 13.1% last month in metropolitan Milwaukee, marking the strongest September in 10 years and extending a solid year for the local housing market.
The average sale price also continued to rise, the Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors said Wednesday.
Through the first three quarters of 2015, the average price was up in all four counties in the metro area from the same time a year ago: 8% in Washington and Ozaukee counties, 7% in Milwaukee County and 3% in Waukesha County.
"The housing market is doing quite well," said Mark Kivley, broker-owner of ReMax Lakeside in Shorewood.
Kivley noted the market is starting to receive a boost from millennials, generally considered those born between the early 1980s and early 2000s.
"They've been on a slow start, but I think they are starting to pick up. Whether they sense there might be higher rates, I don't know. But it has helped," Kivley said.
The metro Realtors organization said 1,738 homes were sold in September, compared with 1,537 in September 2014.
"The last time the metropolitan market saw over 1,700 sales in September was in 2005," Mike Ruzicka, president of the local Realtors group, said in a statement.
Through the first nine months of 2015, sales were up almost 12% from the same period last year, to 15,348 from 13,714.
"The 2015 market can be characterized as very solid, with buyers quickly absorbing available listings since the beginning of the year," Ruzicka said.
The inventory of homes for sale continues to be tight, putting upward pressure on prices.
"It does create a seller's market, where buyers are under pressure to make decisions a little more quickly, and they are willing to pay a little more," Kivley said. "I think it's definitely become a seller's market."
In Milwaukee County through September this year, the average sale price was $160,645 compared with $149,582, a 7% gain.
In Ozaukee County, the average price was $296,003, or 8% higher than $273,281 in 2014. The average price rose 8% in Washington County, to $221,841 from $205,626, and in Waukesha County, the average sale price increased 3% to $288,866 from $280,978.
Ruzicka said that "while reasonable price gains are always welcome," the market still hasn't completely recovered from the recession, with prices still down almost 20% from the 2007 peak in Milwaukee County and 7.1% in the metro area overall.