Selling a Home in Whitewater, WI: Pricing Town, Lake and Country Properties

By Kim and Joel Reyenga, eXp Realty | YourWiscoHome.com

Quick answer: The Whitewater area recorded 265 closed sales between January 7, 2025 and September 15, 2026. Homes off the water sold at a $349,601 median in 20 days. Values rose about 9 percent year over year. Houses that never cut their price got 100 percent of asking in 11 days. Houses that cut got 93 percent in 55 days.

This guide covers the City and Town of Whitewater, the Town of Richmond and the Town of La Grange north of Highway 12.

What sold

Segment	Sold	Median	Median days on market
Home off the water	181	$349,601	20
Lakefront home	22	listed individually in the buying guide	11
Lake access home	6	$385,000	18
Condominium, off water	23	$279,000	20
Vacant land	32	$200,000	104

Individual lakefront sales, with frontage, sit in buying a home in Whitewater.

Values rose about 9 percent

Year	Sold	Median
2025	108	$330,000
2026 through September 15	73	$360,000

That covers homes off the water, the largest segment.

One caution. The 2026 figures stop on September 15. They do not include a full fall. Treat the direction as real and the exact percent as early.

The price reduction finding

This is the clearest number in the data, and it is the one worth a seller's attention.

Across 209 single family sales:

	Sales	Median share of original asking price	Median days on market
Never reduced the price	159	100.0%	11
Reduced during the listing	50	93.0%	55

A house that never cut its price got the full asking price in 11 days. A house that cut got 93 percent in 55 days.

That is 7 points of price and 5 times the days on market.

The reduction did not rescue those listings. It followed a price the market had already declined. The first price is the one that does the work.

How fast property sells

Days on market	Share of single family sales
7 days or fewer	29%
8 to 30 days	34%
31 to 60 days	21%
61 to 120 days	10%
121 days or more	6%

Nearly two thirds sold inside a month.

Lakefront is the fastest segment in this market. The 22 lakefront homes took 11 days and closed at 99.9 percent of their original asking price.

That surprises people. The most expensive property here moves quickest. How lake access affects value is covered in our guide to amenity impact.

What sellers got against asking price

Segment	Sold	Median result	Sold below asking
Condominium, off water	23	100.0%	9 of 23
Lakefront home	22	99.9%	10 of 22
Home off the water	181	99.4%	91 of 181
Lake access home	6	98.8%	3 of 6
Vacant land	31	80.2%	27 of 31

Vacant land is the outlier and it is not close. Land sold at a median 80.2 percent of its original asking price, and 27 of 31 parcels sold below asking. It also took a median 104 days.

A land seller here should expect to negotiate about 20 percent and wait about 3 months.

Speed by price band

Sale price	Sold	Median days	Median of asking	Sold above asking
Under $250,000	28	15	98.8%	29%
$250,000 to $350,000	64	11	99.4%	27%
$350,000 to $500,000	79	22	100.0%	20%
$500,000 to $750,000	17	27	97.5%	18%
Above $750,000	21	27	99.4%	24%

The $250,000 to $350,000 band moves fastest, at 11 days.

Above $500,000 the pace roughly doubles, to 27 days. That holds for both the $500,000 to $750,000 group and the group above it.

What above asking looks like

49 of 209 single family sales closed above their original asking price. That is 23 percent.

The median premium was 3.2 percent.

Twenty-eight of those 49 sold within 7 days of listing. Competitive bidding here is a first-week event. It does not develop after a listing has been sitting.

The three municipalities

Single family sales only:

Municipality	Sold	Median	Median days	Median of asking
Whitewater	188	$354,518	19	99.6%
Town of Richmond	16	$590,000	21	96.8%
Town of La Grange	5	$392,000	14	102.7%

Richmond carries the highest price and the most negotiation. At a $590,000 median it runs about $235,000 above the city, and it settled at 96.8 percent of asking. That is the lakefront and acreage market.

La Grange recorded only 5 single family sales, so the 102.7 percent figure rests on a very small sample.

When closings happen

Month	Closings
June and July	37 each
August	31
April	26
February	23
January	20
September	19
May	18
November	16
October	14
December	13
March	11

June and July close more than 3 times the volume of March.

A June closing usually means an April contract. For lake property, that means listing in early spring.

March is the low month here, not January. January recorded 20 closings and March recorded 11. That is worth knowing if you are timing a winter listing.

What to have ready before listing

Township property runs on private well and septic. City property runs on municipal service.

For any property:

• Well records on township property, including the last test and any treatment equipment

• Septic records on township property, including the last inspection and pumping

• Water and sewer account records in the city

• Association documents and dues history where they apply

• Receipts for recent work, especially mechanical systems and the roof

• The Wisconsin Real Estate Condition Report, which state law requires

For lake property, add pier permits, the date the pier was first placed, DNR correspondence, shoreline work history and surveyed frontage if you have it.

For a rental property, add the current rental license, the lease file and the occupancy record. Owners selling from Illinois can read selling from across the state line.

Our guide to preparing a second home covers the rest of the file.

Listing language

Name the lake. Whitewater Lake, Rice Lake and Lake Lorraine price differently, and a listing that says only "water frontage" loses the distinction. Two city sales in this data carried recorded frontage with no lake named at all.

Spell the subdivision the way buyers search it. The Residences of Meadowview appears in the MLS under 3 spellings. A listing entered under an unusual version will not show up in a saved search for the common one. That is a seller problem as much as a data problem.

State the frontage source. MLS frontage is agent-entered rather than surveyed. If you have a survey, say so.

Do not overstate water rights. Anything not in a recorded document or an association bylaw creates a disclosure question during attorney review. Our lake association study covers association structures across the region.

On a rental, state the license status. The city and the university both publish rental rules. A buyer will ask.

See marketing a lake home without overpromising.

Pricing against thin comparable sets

Lakefront recorded 22 sales across 3 lakes in 20 months. Rice Lake recorded 3 and Lake Lorraine recorded 2. Lake access recorded 6.

At that volume an appraiser may reach back further in time or over to another lake. Paperwork gathered before you list narrows the range: surveyed frontage, pier permits, association documents, well records, and any recent sale not yet in the pool. The lakefront study reports all 26 lakes on the same basis.

See appraisal gaps and how to price a home to sell.

For current conditions across the wider region, see our latest market update. For the community picture, see living in Whitewater and our companion site's Whitewater community guide.

Frequently asked questions

What is my Whitewater home worth?

It depends on the segment. Between January 7, 2025 and September 15, 2026, homes off the water sold at a $349,601 median across 181 sales. Condominiums sold at $279,000 across 23 and vacant land at $200,000 across 32. Looking at single family sales by municipality, Whitewater ran a $354,518 median, the Town of Richmond $590,000 and the Town of La Grange $392,000.

Does cutting the price help a home sell in Whitewater?

The data says the first price does the work. Across 209 single family sales, the 159 that never reduced got a median 100 percent of their original asking price in 11 days. The 50 that reduced got 93 percent in 55 days. That is 7 points of price and 5 times the days on market.

Are Whitewater home values rising?

Homes off the water went from a $330,000 median on 108 sales in 2025 to $360,000 on 73 sales in 2026 through September 15. That is about 9 percent. The 2026 figures do not include a full fall, so treat the direction as real and the exact percent as early.

How long does it take to sell a home in Whitewater?

Lakefront homes took a median of 11 days, lake access 18 days, and homes off the water and condominiums 20 days each. Vacant land took 104 days. Twenty-nine percent of single family sales closed within 7 days of listing and nearly two thirds within 30 days.

Why is vacant land hard to sell in Whitewater?

Land sold at a median 80.2 percent of its original asking price, the lowest of any segment here, and 27 of 31 parcels sold below asking. It also took a median 104 days, and 26 parcels were listed at the data pull. A land seller should expect to negotiate about 20 percent and wait about 3 months.

How often do Whitewater homes sell above asking?

49 of 209 single family sales closed above their original asking price, which is 23 percent. The median premium was 3.2 percent. Twenty-eight of those 49 sold within 7 days of listing, so competitive bidding here is a first-week event.

What price range sells fastest in Whitewater?

The $250,000 to $350,000 band, at a median 11 days across 64 sales. Homes under $250,000 took 15 days and homes from $350,000 to $500,000 took 22. Above $500,000 the pace roughly doubles to 27 days, which holds for both the $500,000 to $750,000 group and the group above it.

When is the best time to list in Whitewater?

Closings peak in June and July at 37 each, against 11 in March. A June closing generally means an April contract, so spring listing suits lake property. Note that March is the low month here rather than January. January recorded 20 closings and March recorded 11.

Do I need well and septic records to sell near Whitewater?

On township property, yes. The Towns of Whitewater, Richmond and La Grange run on private well and septic. A lender will require the records, the last test, the last inspection and pumping, and documentation on any treatment equipment. City properties connected to municipal service need the account records instead.

Find out what yours is worth

Three lakes, 4 governments and 2 counties each carry their own comparable sales.

Kim and Joel Reyenga have worked this region for a combined 50 years. Call (262) 325-9867, or request a property valuation.