Eau Claire County (WQOW) - The housing market is picking up some momentum and that could mean a possible comeback.
The U.S. Government says homebuilding reached a four-year high in September. Another government report shows foreclosures have fallen to a five-year low. WQOW News 18 wanted to know whether there are positive signs locally.
Eau Claire resident Emily Ernster, says, "I know when we bought our previous house, prices were much higher. So, compared to then, it seems like it's much more affordable."
Ernster and her family decided to build a new home in Eau Claire after her husband found a job in the area. She says, "We knew we had wanted to move and a job was open so it was a good time to move, and it just happened to be an excellent time to build a house."
Bill Albright, the President of the Chippewa Valley Home Builders Association says, "The custom home stuff has picked up and we did some last year but not as many, there is a lot more interest."
Eau Claire County has issued 63 one and two family home building permits so far this year, that's up seven from all of last year. And the county says the permits are still coming in.
"We have three custom homes we're doing, a couple spec homes and then we have numerous multi-family stuff. We still have nine foundations to get in here yet this fall. So, we're staying fairly busy," says, Albright.
While it's not a science, you can attribute the momentum to a number of variables including lower mortgage rates and affordable housing.
Ernster says, "It was pretty exciting to make our wish list a reality and not have to give up on some things, that we could probably have all that we wanted."
In August, home sales were up 19 % in Western Wisconsin compared to the same month a year ago.
