Home sales up in Wisconsin, prices down

MILWAUKEE — Statewide home sales rose nearly 11 percent in January, a typically slow period for the housing resale industry.

The Wisconsin Realtors Association says the year-to-year increase last month was boosted by a nearly 23 percent increase in activity in northeastern Wisconsin. While sales rose, the median price of a home in Wisconsin fell from about $128,000 to $119,000. Generally, prices are still lower than they were before the recession.

Marquette University economics professor David Clark consults for the Realtors Association. Clark tells the La Crosse Tribune (http://bit.ly/yaaTi8) that any significant improvement in the housing industry will depend on the state's ability to add jobs.