December 2023 Dane County single family home update

Madison area home prices rose once again in December. Here’s our latest update on the Dane County single family home market.  

Dane County home prices

Home prices in the month of December:

• The price per square foot increased from $216 to $229 (5 percent).
• The average price increased from $460,431 to $466,011 (1 percent). 
• The median price increased from $389,785 to $414,900 (6 percent).

Annual price increases (from 2022 to 2023): 

• The price per square foot increased from $214 to $225 (5 percent).
• The average price increased from $466,130 to $497,232 (7 percent). 
• The median price increased from $412,500 to $435,000 (5 percent). 

New listings

New listings rose for the second straight month (a positive trend), but were still very low by historical standards. A total of of 176 single family homes were listed for sale in the month of December, which was the second lowest December total this century. 

Active listings

Available listings (those without an accepted offer) are up from each of the last two Januarys, but listing availability is still running very low. Only 422 Dane County homes (or 1.1 months of supply) were available for sale on January 14th. 

Accepted offers

Dane County contract signings continue to trend lower. Only 198 listings went under contract last month, which was the lowest total for any month of December in the last 13 years. 

Competing offers

The percentage of listings receiving multiple offers continues to run much higher than an in the pre-pandemic market. This is one clear sign of pent-up demand in the Madison area, where buyers outnumber sellers in our low supply market. Twenty-nine percent of all accepted offers involved multiple offers in November, compared to only 17 percent four years earlier. 

Cash offers

Cash offers are occurring much more often, too, which is another clear sign of pent-up demand. Twenty-one percent of all December closings involved cash offers, which was a record high for the month. 

Days on market

Historically low marketing times are a third indicator of pent-up demand. The average days on market in December was only 23 days, which was the lowest on record for the month. 

Dane County home sales

December home sales were the lowest since 2011. A lack of fresh supply is limiting the number of sales in Dane County. 

Prices will continue to rise in 2024… 

And for these 10 key reasons. What questions do you have about the market in the coming year? Please reach out to us with all of your real estate questions. We’re here to help, and never with any sales pressure or spin.