MILWAUKEE -- People are bidding thousands of dollars over asking price for starter homes in Southeast Wisconsin.
The Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors reports last month was one of the strongest in nearly two decades, with home sales up 3.7 percent.
One couple in Riverwest shared how they navigated through the bidding wars, a process that initially sounded crazy to Brian Petersdorf.
"Every one of them was over asking, we were just blown away," Petersdorf explained.
But at the end of the day, he and his wife Amy are happy with their Riverwest home.
"We did bid $15,000 over asking, it was a tight race," Amy Petersdorf said.
This is a new reality many buyers are facing if you are looking for a starter home around $300,000.
Their realtor says the slow down in a new starter home construction created this low inventory.
"We haven't seen this type of influx with the lack of inventory since the market in 2005," Sara Jo Dederich, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker said.
New developments are also booming near the new Ikea and Foxconn locations. According to The Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors and MLS, new single home construction sales have jumped from 55 last year to 79 so far this year. That is about a 40 percent increase. Vacant land for commercial use has also increased from 83 last year to 117 so far this year, nearly a 30 percent increase.
For the Petersdorf's, house number five was the charm. Their realtor shares her one worry for people who may decide to wait to buy a home for another year.
"We have historically low-interest rates and that might not be the case from now." said Dederich.
