Modern, affordable townhomes in Fitchburg

I have a client who purchased a unit at the Parkside Townhomes in Fitchburg in the last year. After looking at many different condos and townhomes, she chose a Parkside unit because of its modern style, sense of space, and overall value proposition. For around $200,000, these units offer a bright and open floorplan with 9 foot ceilings, stainless steel appliances, a gas fireplace, a two-car garage, a screened balcony, and over 1,600 square feet of living space.

You can ask your agent for more information on these units. If you're not already working with an agent, you can contact the listing agent and ask him for his assistance. His name is Gabe Albrecht of Stark Company Realtors. Gabe's email is galbrecht@starkhomes.com and his phone number is 347-8672.

I don't stand to gain anything by giving these townhomes a plug. I mention them now because several units are available, and I was impressed by their overall value proposition when I last toured them.

For more information on the Fitchburg condo market and other local condo markets, you can visit the real estate trends page at DaneCountyMarket.com.

First-time home buyer seminars

Both the Dane County Housing Authority and UW Credit Union offer regular seminars for first-time home buyers. You'll find more information with these links:

• Dane County Housing Authority education schedule
• UW Credit Union education schedule
  

Note the DCHA has not yet released its schedule for the 2009 year. The next UW Credit Union seminar is scheduled for January 13th.

You'll also find plenty of useful information on the buying real estate page at DaneCountyMarket.com.

One big similarity between the Dane County and national real estate markets

We've covered how the Dane County and national real estate markets are different. Generally speaking, we're not seeing the severe price decreases that other markets around the country are experiencing. If you're interested in tracking the latest price trends, use a source that reports data specific to our market. You'll get a much better picture of our market from a source that uses local price data.

With that said, I'm a big believer that national sales volume reports are important to our market. Here's why. This graph shows national sales volume started to decrease on a year-over-year basis (noted by the red data points) in the Fall of 2005.

And this graph shows essentially the same trend for the Dane County market, with local sales volume starting to slip a little before the trend became clear at the national level.

It's a buyer's market right now because supply is high and demand is low. Supply will decrease and the market will shift when more buyers start to enter the market. When national sales do start to increase in a meaningful way, this will be a good indication that the foundation is in place for a shift toward a more balanced market. We'll check back in on the national sales figures over the coming months. In the meantime expect buyers to hold all of the cards, especially during the coming fall and winter months when the demand for housing will be predictably low.