Median Home Price in Wisconsin More Than Doubled Over the Last Decade

Wednesday, July 5th, 2023 -- 9:01 AM

(By Joe Schulz, Wisconsin Public Radio) The median home price in Wisconsin has more than doubled over the last decade, as supply has failed to keep up with demand after homebuilding slowed during the Great Recession.

According to Joe Schulz with Wisconsin Public Radio, that’s according to new data from the Wisconsin Realtors Association, or WRA, and a new report from the University of Wisconsin-Extension. Median home prices in Wisconsin have risen from $144,000 in May 2013 to $294,000 in May 2023, according to realtors association data.

In fact, from February 2012 to the same month this year, Wisconsin went from having the second-lowest median home sale price among its neighbors, Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan and Iowa, to the second-highest, according to UW-Extension.

The Extension report says supply of new housing hasn’t kept up with demand, putting upward pressure on prices for both homeowners and renters. Steven Deller, professor of agricultural and applied economics at UW-Madison, authored the report.

He said many were hoping to see downward pressure on prices in response to the Federal Reserve raising interest rates, but that hasn’t happened yet. Deller said high mortgage rates have had a modest effect on demand for homes, but a greater influence on those who currently own a home to postpone older couples from downsizing or young families upsizing, keeping some homes off the market.

He said homeowners who have current mortgage rates around 3 percent are less likely to sell their home to purchase another at a rate between 6 or 7 percent.  As a result, home prices have continued to climb, increasing each month this year, according to WRA data.

That’s despite a 26.4 percent decrease in sales relative to the first five months of 2022.

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