(The Center Square) — Wisconsin’s real estate agents say there are too few homes for sale, and those that are available are once again getting more expensive.
“Existing home sales fell for a third straight month,” the May 2025 Realtors report released Thursday says. “Specifically, closed sales fell just 2.1% over the past 12 months. Relative to May 2024, the median price rose 4.3% to $330,000.”
The report said May’s 2.1% drop in sales is much smaller than the 8.6% drop in sales in March, and 9% year-over-year drop in sales in April.
“As we move into the peak period for sales, it’s good to see a solid improvement in inventory levels over the last 12 months,” Realtors Chairman Chris DeVincentis said in a statement. “More housing inventory will help moderate price appreciation and will lead to more buying opportunities.”
The report said 6,607 homes sold in May compared to 22,033 listing. The listing total is up 8.5% from May of last year.
The median home price, compared to a year ago, rose 4.3% to $330,000. April was $322,000 and March $310,000.
Realtors President and CEO Tom Larson said 2025’s price increases are offset, a bit, by other economic news.
“Median family income increased 7% since May of last year,” Larson said. “This increase, combined with a slight improvement in the 30-year mortgage rate and moderately lower price appreciation over the last year, led to a slight improvement in affordability.”
The report said southeastern and south central Wisconsin led in home sales. The Milwaukee area accounted for nearly 36% of sales in the state and the Madison area nearly 21%.
