Weekly Fiscal Facts are provided to Wisconsin NewsMedia Association members by the Wisconsin Policy Forum, the state’s leading resource for nonpartisan state and local government research and civic education. The Wisconsin Policy Forum logo can be downloaded here.
In recent weeks, developers unveiled plans for at least two large condo projects in southeast Wisconsin, including one in downtown Milwaukee. If constructed, these projects would stand out amid an extended period of diminished condo production in Wisconsin. A recent Wisconsin Policy Forum report found that 15 years after the Great Recession, the production of new condominiums in Wisconsin’s largest cities remains at very low levels.
Condominiums play a small but distinct role in a healthy housing market. In many markets, the median price for condos is cheaper than for single-family homes, offering prospective buyers a more affordable alternative for homeownership. And because condos are often smaller and require less maintenance than single-family homes, they can be attractive to older buyers.
Yet our analysis of municipal assessment records demonstrates the extent to which, in recent years, Wisconsin’s condo production has lagged. These figures include both newly constructed condo units and those converted from other uses. The term “condo” is generally used to describe a housing unit located within a larger building or complex, in which such units are owned separately. Typically, though not always, condos are owner-occupied, and the larger building or complex often includes common spaces.
Milwaukee and Madison followed a national pattern in which condo production soared during the 2000s, then plummeted during the Great Recession and immediately afterward. By 2025, in both cities it remained very far below pre-Great Recession levels. For example, an average of about eight condo units were added in Milwaukee annually during the five-year period from 2021 to 2025, and an average of about 16 units annually were added in Madison. That’s compared to an average of about 309 units annually in Milwaukee and about 547 units annually in Madison during the five-year period from 2004 through 2008, the height of the pre-Great Recession condo-building boom.
Data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey show the change over time, in Wisconsin and nationally, in total owner-occupied housing units located in structures of five or more units. Since the vast majority of these units are condos, they serve as a useful metric to analyze production at a statewide level, even as they exclude condos in structures of less than five units.
More than 52,000 Wisconsinites, or about 0.9% of our state’s population, lived in owner-occupied housing units in structures of five units or more in 2024, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. That’s compared to the national share of 1.6%. Yet at least some of our state’s demographic trends point toward new market opportunities for condos.
As of 2024, Wisconsin had a greater concentration than the nation of households consisting of one or two people. Yet relative to the nation, Wisconsin has a smaller share of one- and two-person households who currently live in owner-occupied housing units in structures of five units or more. That share is 1.8% in Wisconsin, compared to 3.1% nationally.
Developers and builders cite financing and liability hurdles that they say are holding back production of condos. If policymakers wish to take further action in Wisconsin to encourage condo production, one option would be to revisit state laws governing construction defect liability. Another potential approach would be to focus on condo financing.
In the context of the broader housing market, condos are a relatively small component. But in some urban and suburban areas, relative to single-family homes, condos offer buyers a potential alternative and a more affordable entry point into ownership. These and other factors suggest that policymakers may wish to consider any steps that may be warranted to ensure developers and builders can meet market demand for condo ownership.
This information is a service of the Wisconsin Policy Forum, the state’s leading resource for nonpartisan state and local government research and civic education. Learn more at wispolicyforum.org.
