Waukesha County Home

By Eileen Mozinski Schmidt Special to Waukesha County Home It's still a buyer's real estate mar- ket in Waukesha County this spring, despite the recent upward climb of interest rates, according to some area experts. As of the second week of March, a fixed rate 30-year mortgage was 6.73% and a 15-year was 5.95% nationally, according to Freddie Mac, or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation. "Would-be homebuyers continue to face the compounding challenges of affordability and low inventory," the company said, on its website. Locally, inventory continues to be in high demand, according to Nancy Kurtz Hamm, broker and owner of Kurtz Realty LLC in Elm Grove. On a recent morning, she noted there were only nine homes avail- able without offers in Brookfield and only two of those were in the $300,000 range. "Things come on over the week- end and then they're gone," Hamm said. The increase in rates has impact- ed some shoppers. "Originally, when interest rates went up, everyone stopped in their tracks. We did lose some buyers," Hamm said. "It did knock out some of the first-time buyers." But there is also a sense of awareness regarding the changing costs, as with increased grocery prices and other commodities, said Hamm, who said people are still willing to jump into the search. "If you lock in now and it goes up, you feel smart. If it goes down, C O N T E N T S A pair of prized remodels Wallpaper is in Killing your plants with kindness A publication of the Waukesha Freeman and Oconomowoc Enterprise • March 2023 Spring home shopping Mortgage rates are up, but it's still a busy market Dan Muckelbauer/Waukesha County Home A home is seen for sale Monday on Post Road, north of Greenfield Avenue, in Brookfield, shortly before the sign was pulled and listed as under contract on the Re/Max website. Waukesha County remains a hot home market, real estate agents say. Nancy Kurtz Hamm of Kurtz Realty LLC in Elm Grove said that on a recent morning there were only nine homes without offers for sale in Brookfield. See SELLING FAST/PAGE 2

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