MON AM News: WRA report spotlights smaller decline in home sales in May; SBIR Advance grants going to eight small businesses

June 23, 2025

— May home sales in Wisconsin fell 2.1% over the year, marking the third month in a row of declining sales. But it was a smaller decrease than the two previous months.

The Wisconsin Realtors Association’s latest report highlights this slowdown in the rate of decline, noting March sales had fallen 8.6% over the year and April sales had fallen 9%.

Last month, the state had 6,607 home sales, down from 6,752 in May 2024.

As the state enters this year’s peak period for home sales, WRA Board of Directors Chair Chris DeVincentis points to “solid improvement” in inventory levels over the past year. Wisconsin had 22,033 total listings last month — an 8.5% increase from the previous May’s total of 20,309 listings.

“More housing inventory will help moderate price appreciation and will lead to more buying opportunities,” he said in the report.

Still, the number of new listings fell 1.5% over the 12-month period ending in May.

But WRA also reports rural counties saw an improvement in inventory levels last month, rising to 5.7 months of supply — close to the six-month benchmark the group says indicates a balanced market. Metropolitan counties with large cities, as well as “micropolitan” counties with smaller cities and towns, remained “strong seller’s markets” with 3.5 months and 4.1 months of supply, respectively.

Meanwhile, state home prices continue to rise. WRA reports the state’s median home price increased 4.3% over the year, reaching $330,000 in May. But at the same time, Wisconsin’s median family income rose 7%, WRA President and CEO Tom Larson noted.

“This increase, combined with a slight improvement in the 30-year mortgage rate and moderately lower price appreciation over the last year, led to a slight improvement in affordability,” he said. “Hopefully these trends continue and will help firsttime buyers achieve the goal of homeownership.”

The report shows the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate dipped to 6.82% most recently.

And while the group’s affordability rating for the state rose 5.1% over the past 12 months, the report says that’s still historically low. Its Wisconsin Housing Affordability Index measures the percentage of the median-priced home that a buyer with median family income qualifies to purchase, assuming a 20% down payment and a typical 30-year fixed mortgage.

That index value stood at 124 in May 2025, not much higher than the recent historic low of 116 from June 2024. WRA has been tracking this measure since 2009.

See the report.

— Eight small businesses are getting up to $700,000 in matching grant funds through the SBIR Advance program’s latest round of funding.

The state program supports companies in the process of completing projects in the federal Small Business Innovation Research or Small Business Technology Transfer programs.

Phase 1 recipients, getting up to $75,000 in matching funds, include:

*Calimetrix of Madison, which provides quality assurance services for medical imaging studies to improve the quality of results and reduce the risk of “undetected problems that can lead to misdiagnosis,” the release shows.

*CIAN, a Pewaukee company that’s developing biomarkers for diagnosing brain injuries based on altered blood flow.

*UP Oncolytics, based in Milwaukee. The startup is working towards clinical trials for a treatment for glioblastoma, a type of brain tumor.

*Elif Environmental, based in River Hills, has a technology for improving the efficiency of anaerobic digestion, the process used for biogas production. It involves pretreating the organic matter fuel with microwaves and electromagnetic fields.

The Phase 2 recipients, each getting up to $100,000 in matching funds, include:

*BiaCure Therapies in Pewaukee, which is developing a new therapy for treating a fungal infection called onychomycosis.

*Varizymes Corporation, based in Middleton, which is creating molecular diagnostics kits for quickly detecting multiple pathogens from clinical samples.

*Aquarius Systems of North Prairie, which has a debris collection system for small to medium streams and rivers.

*Fleet Cycles, based in Monona, which makes electric bike products that can carry small loads of cargo.

These grants, along with the others announced recently, represent the 25th round of SBIR Advance funding since it began in 2014. This collaboration between the Center for Technology Commercialization and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. has issued 191 awards with more than $16 million in total funding.

“We have made a concerted effort to increase the number of contracts awarded to our state, and we are always pleased to see our efforts pay off with more of these contracts being awarded to Wisconsin small businesses,” Rob Baranowski, program manager for SBIR Advance, said in a statement.

See the release.

— Milwaukee’s Dohmen Company Foundation joined a recent $16 million investment round in Washington startup Mealogic, which has a nationwide meal delivery platform.

Rachel Roller, the foundation’s president and CEO, says the company aims to help health care providers, entrepreneurs and others looking to enter the “food as medicine ecosystem” that connects nutritional choices to health and wellness.

“That kind of enablement is exactly what our country needs right now — a vibrant, expanding market of efficacious food-based health solutions that can reach more people, more effectively,” she said in a statement on the investment.

The company will use the funding to improve its customer experience, scale businesses development and expand access to its personalized meal delivery services, the foundation says. The announcement noted its role in efforts to prevent and reverse diet-related disease, a major focus for the organization.

Mealogic’s platform includes e-commerce, food production and delivery services for its clients, which can include other wellness brands or clinical programs that require specific nutrition standards. The company currently has more than 40 clients, according to CEO Derek Mansfield.

“Our platform allows partners to deliver high-quality meals that reflect their unique dietary programs — whether they’re focused on metabolic health, complementing GLP-1 protocols, or any myriad of other nutrition-focused plans,” Mansfield said, referring to protocols around certain treatments for diabetes and obesity.

The lead investor in the round, Chicago-based S2G Investments, is a multi-stage venture capital firm that often invests in companies in food and agriculture industries. Individual contributions of investors in the round were not disclosed.

See the release.

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