Oct. 18—EAU CLAIRE — Home sales remain ahead of 2020's pace in Eau Claire County and Wisconsin as a whole, but those leads are shirking.

A shortage of houses on the market was primarily blamed Monday by the Wisconsin Realtors Association as it announced that September's sales figures were lower than a year ago.

"The very low inventory levels have caught up with us in the second half of this year, and now nine months in, we are only 1.5% ahead of the record pace of sales from last year," Mary Duff, chairwoman of the association, stated in a news release.

As of September there were 65,257 homes sold this year in Wisconsin, up 959 from the same time in 2020.

September marked the third month in a row where sales were down, eroding Wisconsin's lead on 2020's numbers. That lead had been 3.9% in July, falling to 2.7% in August and then down to 1.5% last month.

Eau Claire County is among the few bright spots in western Wisconsin for its sales figures, but its lead shrank last month. Sales were up 4.2% through July, then the lead stretched to 7.2% due to a good August, but slowed back down to 4.7% when September was over.

The county's total is now 1,157 homes sold this year, up from 1,105 at the same time in 2020.

Chippewa and Dunn counties are both behind their 2020 sales figures by about 100 homes, making them slower than last year's pace by 13.5% and 18%, respectively.

In Chippewa County, 633 homes were sold through September, compared to 732 at the same time in 2020. Dunn County reached 420 home sales at the end of last month, down from 512 a year before.

For the 12 counties combined that make up Wisconsin Realtors Association's western region, sales are down 3.4% when compared to the same time last year.

Aside from Eau Claire County, the only others in western Wisconsin that are still trending above 2020's sales figures are Jackson and Trempealeau counties.

Meanwhile, prices for homes had been surging, but are now showing signs of more moderate increases.

The median price of a home sold last month was $245,000 in the state, which was $15,100 more than a year prior. However, that 6.6% price increase is on the low end of what the state has been experiencing since summer 2020.

"After seeing double-digit annual home price increases for all but one month between July of last year and July of this year, we've seen that pace fall to below 7% for the last two months," Michael Theo, president and CEO of the Wisconsin Realtors Association, said in the news release.

Across western Wisconsin counties, the average price was 7.6% higher last month than what buyers shelled out for a mid-priced home in September 2020, according to the association's report.

The median price grew more in Eau Claire County, reaching $258,950 last month, up $23,950 — a 10.2% increase — on the September 2020 figure.

Dunn County rise was about average at 7.1% as the median price went from $212,500 to $227,500 between the last two Septembers.

The median home price in Chippewa County stayed about level at $228,000 last month — $1,000 less than a year before.

Theo wrote that the steeper price increases seen over the past year likely have moderated demand for homebuying, even with very favorable mortgage rates available.

Dave Clark, an economist at Marquette University and consultant to the realtors association, said there are hints the economy could also dampen the fervor for homebuying.

While the U.S. economy is likely still expanding, there have been two months of disappointing job growth reports at the national level, and third quarter GDP is expected to be lower than robust figures for the first half of this year, according to Clark.

"If that happens, housing demand may also cool off, further reducing housing price pressures," he said in the association's news release.