(The Center Square) – People in Wisconsin didn’t let higher prices or higher interest rates stop them from buying a home last year.
The Wisconsin Realtors released its final monthly home sales report for 2025, which showed that in December, and for the year, sales were up.
“Existing home sales rose 4.4% in December 2025 compared to December 2024,” the report noted. “For the full year, existing home sales in 2025 were 2% higher than 2024 totals.”
Prices rose as well.
The median home price in December jumped to $312,750. For all of 2025, prices jumped 4.8% to $325,000.
But the real estate agents said there is some good news for people looking to buy a new home. Interest rates began to fall in 2025.
“Now that we’ve closed out 2025, it’s clear that mortgage rates have consistently moved downward since peaking at nearly 7% just 11 months ago in January,” Realtors President Tom Larson said. “Hopefully this trend continues into 2026 and combines with moderate sustainable price appreciation and income growth to improve the affordability of Wisconsin homes.”
The biggest challenge for people looking for a home in Wisconsin continues to be availability. The report said there are simply not enough homes for sale.
“New listings were down 5.9%, and months of available inventory dropped 3.3% compared to December 2024,” the report noted.
The real estate agents said Wisconsin remains “a strong seller’s market statewide.”
The report add that Wisconsin would need to double the number of homes for sale to become a balanced market.
Homes in the Madison area and the Milwaukee area continue to drive sales, and drive price increases.
The December report shows the median price for homes in the south central part of the state have a median price of $376,803. Homes in southeast Wisconsin have a median price of $328,000. All other regions of the state are seeing median prices less than $300,000.
