T
he Milwaukee housing market continues to be challenging for homebuyers. The median home price in the area rose 12.8% from $310,000 in October 2023 to $349,834 last month, according to the Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors. Meanwhile, mortgage rates have not softened as expected, with the average rate on a 30-year loan spiking to 6.79% last week after dipping slightly following the Federal Reserve's interest rate cut.

    The combination of rising prices and borrowing costs is pricing out working-class residents from the housing market. Research by Marquette University found that in 2019, a factory supervisor with an annual salary of $63,000 could afford the average home in Greenfield, but by 2023, it would have taken an electrical engineer's salary of $100,000 to buy the same property.

    The shortage of new single-family homes and condominiums has contributed to the rapid price growth. However, there is hope on the horizon for the housing market in 2025. While mortgage rates are unlikely to return to their pandemic lows, many economists expect them to fall to around 6% within the next year. Additionally, an influx of new homes may be coming onto the market, with Milwaukee County seeing a 132.1% increase in single-family home permits approved in the first nine months of the year and Washington County experiencing a 39.9% year-over-year increase.