With inventory low, demand for condos in Milwaukee rises

MILWAUKEE — Take a stroll via downtown Milwaukee, particularly within the metropolis’s Historic Third Ward neighborhood, and the abundance of condos appears infinite.

A lot of the Milwaukee River is lined with apartment buildings for greater than a mile. Nonetheless, discovering a apartment stays difficult due to a scarcity of stock. 

Chris Corley owns Corley Actual Property, a agency specializing in shopping for and promoting condos. Corley stated that, just like the housing market as an entire, condos have been promoting rapidly over the previous two years.

He stated that whereas many new housing development initiatives are happening within the metropolis, virtually all are residences reasonably than condos. 

“It has come to a screeching halt,” stated Corley. “The final main constructing was in 2009 The Breakwater, then the Moderne in 2012, with a dozen models there, however nothing since.”

With few new models on the market, consumers are clamoring for the comparatively few beforehand owned models on the market. Usually, Corley stated about 200 condos can be in the marketplace at any given time in Milwaukee. At present, he estimates about 120 are in the marketplace, with a lot of these already contingent. 

“Usually, issues have been coming in the marketplace comparatively rapidly, promoting rapidly, a whole lot of time over asking value,” Corley stated.

Kevin Rutkowski and his spouse have seen each side of the apartment market in latest months. Rutkowski owns a one-bedroom apartment in downtown Milwaukee, however is planning a transfer to Tampa, Florida later this 12 months. Regardless of having a one bed room in the next value level, elements that typically make it harder to promote, Rutkowski was capable of promote his apartment rapidly.

Nonetheless, shopping for a brand new apartment was tougher, with costs sky-high in Florida. 

“The Florida market is basically costly to get into,” he stated. “For a small place, it could run wherever from $400,000 to $800,000.”

Chris Corley believes the apartment market in Milwaukee will stay extremely aggressive till new initiatives are constructed. Whereas many models are nonetheless promoting for over asking value, he stated greater rates of interest in latest months have been cooling demand a bit within the metropolis. ​