Wisconsin homebuyers face challenges with low inventory and stable mortgage rates in 2025

GREEN BAY (WLUK) — It’s a new year and with that comes new challenges for potential homebuyers.

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According to the Wisconsin Realtors Association, the lack of inventory is expected to continue in 2025.

If you’re in the market to buy a new home in Wisconsin, experts say to expect a more volatile market than in the past. They believe mortgage rates should stay between six and seven percent in 2025.

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“People are kind of coming to some kind of understanding that this is the world we live in now and these are going to be the home prices, and if you’re sitting there waiting for home prices to go down and rates to go down, I think you’re going to be waiting for a long time,” Executive Mortgage owner Justin Scott said.

The Wisconsin Realtors Association said low inventory is the biggest problem facing the housing market right now.

In 2024, there were 62,255 home sales. That’s the least in more than a decade, with a median price of $310,000. In 2023, the median price was $285,000. The same trend goes for Brown County, with about 2,500 homes sold in 2024.

Though mortgage rates are expected to stay between six and seven percent this year, Executive Mortgage said home buyers shouldn’t be too concerned despite being a seller’s market. Scott says that percent range is actually closer to an average rate. During the pandemic, people got used to a lower rate. Lower mortgage rates indicate a hurting economy.

“We had a lot of homebuyers that grew very used to two or three percent because we had them for so long, so when they returned to some semblance of normal, the market — it’s going to shock a lot of people, because they were accustomed to lower rates,” Scott said.

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Scott said home prices and mortgage rates are directly related. When rates go down, prices go up, and vice versa. Part of the reason for the low supply right now is because people are hanging onto their homes longer.

“We have more people that are just staying where they are and then we have more single person households too, so it’s just kind of a change in generation that we’re seeing,” Resource One Realty realtor Whitney Walczyk said.

Walczyk said she works with a lot of homebuyers who are struggling to find a home. Either not enough options, or out of their price range. In 2024, Brown County’s median price was $332,900.

While Walczyk understands home buying can be frustrating, she has one piece of advice.

“The time to educate yourself is now. It’s not waiting until you’re ready and you need to be in a house next month. It does take some time, so just being patient and preparing yourself the best that you can,” Walczyk said.