State’s Rising Home Prices a Concern
Becoming less affordable as prices, mortgage rates rise.
Sold sign. Photo by Dave Reid.
Home prices continue to rise in Wisconsin, and there are concerns that affordability might slip further this year.
Demand for homes has stayed high, while the number of homes for sale has continued to fall.
“On the one hand, it’s not a lot different from what we’ve already seen,” said economist David Clark of Marquette University, who releases the monthly reports in conjunction with the WRA. “The tightening of inventory has been an issue for us throughout the last year. The challenge that we face going forward is mortgage rates are likely to continue to rise,” as the Federal Reserve tries to slow inflation.
Following the “relatively stable mortgage rates in 2021,” Clark said the higher rates this year combined with the existing pressure on prices mean “affordability could start declining at perhaps a more pronounced rate.”
The median price of a home in Wisconsin stood at $235,000 last month, up 9.3 percent from February of last year.
The WRA reported 4,300 homes sold last month, a year-to-year decline of 4.7 percent.
Another effect of the hot housing market: a new study by the Wisconsin Policy Forum found the amount of revenue state and local governments take in from real estate transfers rose 37 percent in fiscal year 2021, a total of $132.6 million dollars.
State projections show this fiscal year could set another revenue record.
Buying a house in Wisconsin has been getting more expensive. Inflation isn’t likely to help was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
