Housing
Low inventory and high costs have left the dream of homeownership out of reach for many Wisconsinites. Here we present data, stories, and solutions from the frontlines of Wisconsin’s housing crisis. Download the full report.
Press Releases
Research & Journalism
How big a factor are regulatory costs? According to one study, the cost of regulation would be $95,000 on a $400,000 home.
Rent control policies result in a lower stock of available housing, a lower quality of available housing, increased rents for properties that are not controlled, and spillover effects that harm those in the surrounding community.
According to one housing developer, cooperation with the city is a way for both parties to leave Manitowoc a better place.
Cities could ease the squeeze of low housing supply by allowing more market-driven urban infill, say scholars at the American Enterprise Institute.
Allowing more home construction on smaller lots in Wisconsin would substantially drive down prices, according to a new analysis by scholars at the American Enterprise Institute.
Unlike many places in Wisconsin, there is no housing crisis in the Village of Hobart because its leaders have done something developers say is exceedingly rare — making it as easy and predictable as possible for them to do business there.
By the Numbers
Wisconsin house prices in the first quarter of 2026 are 67 percent higher than they were in the first quarter of 2020, data from the U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency show.
Most property taxpayers in larger Wisconsin counties paid somewhat more in 2024 than in 2023, although some — those in Washington, Jefferson, Rock, Kenosha and Dodge — saw decreases.
The rental vacancy rate in Wisconsin reached its lowest level in over 30 years last year, dropping by one full percentage point between 2023 and 2024, figures from the U.S. Census Bureau show.
