— The median sale price for homes in Wisconsin has more than doubled over the past decade, according to a new report from UW-Madison’s Division of Extension.
The report was authored by Prof. Steven Deller, an economist in the university’s Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics.
Between April 2012 and April 2023, the median sale price in the state skyrocketed from $112,800 to $285,500 — an increase of 153.1 percent.
“For the homeowner, this represents a remarkable increase in wealth but for potential buyers, particularly first-time buyers, this increase creates financial stress,” Deller wrote.
He notes the supply of new housing in Wisconsin hasn’t kept up with growing demand over this period, driving up home prices for both owners and renters alike. While the affordable housing shortage often comes up in discussions of the state’s top economic challenges, Deller says the problem isn’t unique to Wisconsin “and is indeed a national concern.”
The report includes a breakdown of month-to-month growth rates for the median sales price among Midwest states. Between 2012 and 2023, that rate was 0.89 percent for Wisconsin, 0.72 percent for Illinois, 0.56 percent for Iowa, 0.75 percent for Minnesota and 0.95 percent for Michigan.
Out of those states, only Iowa had a lower median sale price than Wisconsin in 2012. But by this year, only Minnesota had a higher median price than Wisconsin, Deller found.
He highlights a number of other factors driving housing shortages, including current homeowners with low interest rates being hesitant to give those up, and builders being unwilling to construct “starter homes” due to profit margins for higher-end homes being more attractive.
“Beyond the costs of building materials, the shortage of skilled construction workers (e.g., carpenters, plumbers, electricians) is contributing to not only constraints on new construction but also underlying costs,” he wrote. “The current ‘housing crisis’ is a national one and efforts to address this issue at the local and regional level will be challenging.”
See the full report: https://economicdevelopment.extension.wisc.edu/2023/06/20/wisconsins-housing-dilemma/
— May home sales in the state declined 21.5 percent over the year, the Wisconsin Realtors Association reports.
The group’s latest monthly update shows 5,830 homes were sold in the state last month, which is down from 7,427 in May 2022. Meanwhile, the median home price based on WRA data was $294,000 last month — up 6.9 percent over the year from $275,000.
WRA President and CEO Michael Theo highlights the “significant challenges” posed by rising home prices for millennials, who are typically first-time homebuyers.
“They have smaller down payments than repeat buyers, and so higher mortgage rates have a bigger impact on their ability to compete for homes on the market,” Theo said in a statement. “Hopefully both mortgage rates and price appreciation will continue to moderate so more buyers in this important generation can start accumulating wealth through homeownership.”
Over the same 12-month period, total statewide listings declined 19.8 percent from 20,897 to 16,751, the report shows.
See the full report: https://www.wra.org/HSRMay2023/
See the release: https://www.wisbusiness.com/2023/wisconsin-realtors-association-report-housing-market-remains-tight-in-peak-sales-period/
— Republicans have announced they’re directing over $500 million toward a series of workforce housing proposals that Gov. Tony Evers signed into law.
The bills are meant to help developers and property owners rehab and convert existing properties in order to get more homes on the market, among other things. The Joint Finance Committee’s announcement yesterday applies to a series of revolving loan programs administered by the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Corporation.
The loans are for commercial-to-residential conversions, main street housing rehabilitation and residential housing infrastructure.
Evers in a statement said addressing the affordable housing issue is crucial to resolving the state’s workforce challenges.
“But even beyond that, making sure we have safe, reliable, affordable housing statewide is about more than ensuring folks have a roof over their head,” he said, noting the importance of housing for kids in school, people recovering from substance abuse and others.
Sen. Duey Stroebel, R-Saukville, in a press conference yesterday said Republicans are proud to fund the programs.
“We all know government can’t solve all problems, but we can help and we’ve got what we’re doing in this budget,” he said.
Another measure referred to as the anti-NIMBY, or not in my backyard, bill aims to stop people and groups from blocking local development projects.
See the release:
— This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: the Podcast” is with Chad Tjugum, a student entrepreneur at UW-Whitewater with an early-stage startup called RaritiesMarket.
He recently took fourth place in the Schulze Entrepreneurship Challenge as part of this year’s e-Fest competition. This three-day event is run by the Schulze School of Entrepreneurship at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota and EIX.org, a nonprofit online platform offering entrepreneurship resources.
Alongside co-creator Damian Tobias of St. Francis University in Illinois, Tjugum earned a $15,000 prize through the pitch competition.
Tjugum discusses how he first became interested in starting a business, building on his own experiences as a rare coin collector.
“I’ve been collecting coins since I was five years old, and I’ve been an entrepreneur sort of my whole life … I saw a fragmented market, a market that doesn’t have a lot of technology in it,” he said. “I wanted to introduce a technology company into that space.”
After several early pivots, Tjugum says the business is currently developing a subscription model pricing information website for coin collectors, as well as collection management software.
“So coin collectors can come onto our platform, add in the different items they have in their collection, and then track values, items, etcetera,” he said.
The team aims to launch a beta version of the platform by the end of this summer.
Listen to the podcast here: https://www.wisbusiness.com/2023/wisbusiness-the-podcast-with-chad-tjugum-raritiesmarket/
See the full list of WisBusiness.com podcasts: https://www.wisbusiness.com/category/podcast/
— In the latest episode of “Talking Trade,” international trade consultant Chris Wojtowicz of the Small Business Development Center highlights resources available to companies in the state.
“Wisconsin has a wonderful, really dynamic ecosystem of help for exporters,” he said.
He touches on support offered by local chambers of commerce, economic development officials and state agencies such as DATCP and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp.
And he discusses the role of trade compliance experts for companies looking to reach international markets, noting the current trade landscape is becoming more complex.
“I don’t want to scare people away, but I want them to just take a look and see what could possibly affect their business … At the end of the day, if you’re exporting and you have any kind of concern about your product or who you’re doing business with, that would be the time you know you need a compliance professional,” he said.
Watch the latest episode here: https://www.wisbusiness.com/2023/talking-trade-with-chris-wojtowicz-small-business-development-center/
“Talking Trade” is now available in audio form on Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts. Subscribe and find more episodes here: https://www.wisbusiness.com/category/talking-trade/
— Gov. Tony Evers has announced the members of the Green Ribbon Commission on Clean Energy and Environmental Innovation.
Earlier this year, Evers signed an executive order establishing the commission, which will advise on the state’s first environmental and clean energy fund, the Green Innovation Fund. This fund will use both private and public dollars to support various projects aimed at expanding renewable energy, reducing energy costs and other objectives.
According to a release from the guv’s office, the Inflation Reduction Act allocated $27 billion in competitive funding through the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund for states that work with similar “green banks” on projects like these.
See the full list of commission appointees in the release: https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/WIGOV/bulletins/360b9e8
<br><b><i>Top headlines from the Health Care Report…</b></i>
— A new report from The Commonwealth Fund ranks Wisconsin 21st among U.S. states for the strength of its health care system.
<i>For more of the most relevant news on COVID-19, reports on groundbreaking health research in Wisconsin, links to top stories and more, sign up today for the free daily Health Care Report from WisPolitics.com and WisBusiness.com.</i>
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#TOP STORIES#
# Economy sidelining Wisconsin millennials from housing market
# DNR review of Enbridge plan to reroute Line 5 is progressing as judge orders partial shutdown
# How a Madison company helps pharmacies expand testing, treatments
#TOPICS#
# AGRIBUSINESS
– Revitalizing rural roads: Wisconsin Ag Coalition applauds Governor Evers’ agricultural infrastructure bill
http://wisconsinagconnection.com/story-state.php?Id=619&yr=2023
# CONSTRUCTION
– City pausing demo plans for Boston Store building at former Northridge Mall
– VJS Construction Services celebrates 75th anniversary at Pewaukee headquarters
# ENVIRONMENT
– Wisconsin is once again under an air quality alert from Canadian wildfire smoke
# LEGAL
– Operator of prenatal care business charged after illegally receiving $2.3 million in payments from Wisconsin Medicaid
– Woman charged after allegedly embezzling $600,000 from Milwaukee company
# POLITICS
– Wisconsin passes legislation to boost affordable housing development
– Wisconsin Assembly passes sweeping bill to overhaul liquor law
– Most states offer a year of Medicaid coverage to postpartum women. Wisconsin Republicans rejected a move to include it in the budget
# REAL ESTATE
– Greenfield buys nearly vacant Spring Mall for redevelopment
# RETAIL
– Kunes Auto & RV Group acquires Oak Creek dealership
# TECHNOLOGY
– Visit Milwaukee steps into NFT tech trend in new marketing campaign
# TOURISM
– VISIT Milwaukee, Summerfest using NFTs to promote city
# TRANSPORTATION
– WisDOT options for remaking for remaking I-794 include removing bridges as far west as Sixth Street
# PRESS RELEASES
<i>See these and other press releases:
https://www.wisbusiness.com/press-releases/ </i>
Suzanne Powers Realty Group: Real Trends ranks Powers Realty Group number one team in Wisconsin
Didion: Access to fitness center gives access to better health
Plastic Ingenuity: Appoints Glenn Petrie as Commercial Director – Healthcare
