DE PERE -- A study from the Wisconsin Realtors Association has found that new construction of homes hasn't returned to pre-recession levels set back in 2007. What that means for those in the market to buy a home is that they're going to pay more, on average about 7% more for a home, than they would have paid last year at this time in Wisconsin.
Realtors say construction of new homes has lagged in recent years in Wisconsin because of a lack of laborers. These factors combined are inflating costs of homes that are available.
"Right now, what we're seeing is a lack of inventory still," said Mark Olejniczak of Mark Olejniczak Realty.
"Brown County is I think about over 300,000 people and we have roughly 500 homes at all the price points, and that's a major lack of inventory," said Sean Wilson, with Real Living Bay Realtors.
The Wisconsin Realtors Association says the average cost of a home in Wisconsin has risen about 59% since the year 2000. At this point, there just needs to be more homes on the market to meet the growing demand.
