TUE AM News: Dane Co. housing market facing slower inventory growth, faster price increases than expected; WI Cranberry Board putting $1.1M into industry development, research

April 21, 2026

— Dane County’s housing market is facing slower inventory growth and faster price increases than expected, according to an analysis from Stark County Realtors CEO David Stark.

“Only three months into the new year we’ve already had more curve balls thrown our way than we normally get in a full year,” he wrote.

In his latest Spring Market Source Newsletter, Stark noted earlier forecasts from three months ago predicted inventories in the county would increase by 15%. He called that a “safe prediction” given that inventory levels were 24% ahead of 2025, but it hasn’t proven out.

As of April 6, the latest date captured in his report, residential inventories for Dane County were only 6.2% higher over the year. What’s more, single-family inventories are 3.6% lower than they were at this point last year, after starting the year 20% above last year. Still, condo inventories in the county grew by 40.8% over the year.

Stark wrote “this inventory stickiness surprises us a little,” noting inventories in the county grew by 17% in the first three months of 2025.

“So far in 2026, we’ve only managed to fight our way back to where we started,” he said, noting inventory levels fell to 643 in January after starting the year at 751, and have now bounced back to 753.

While Stark noted it’s not unusual for inventories to dip in the first two months of the year, “the drop was more pronounced than usual this year, and the recovery has been sluggish.”

And though homes are selling at a “decent pace,” the number of new listings are falling short of demand, making it difficult for the county to build up its inventory.

Meanwhile, earlier expectations around prices underestimated the increase seen so far this year, according to Stark. He noted the earlier forecast expected prices to rise by an aggregate 2%, but the 12-month median has already hit $455,000 three months into the year, an increase of 3.41%.

And with the largest price increases expected to come in the second quarter, “prices seem to be rising faster” than they were last year, Stark wrote.

Still, despite missing expected targets, he said the market is still on track for a good year, adding “we still think the best is ahead for our housing market.”

See the full report.

— The Wisconsin Cranberry Board has announced about $1.1 million in new funding for industry development efforts, including research to improve disease detection and climate resilience.

The state’s cranberry industry — which typically supplies about two-thirds of the U.S. cranberry crop — has a $1 billion annual economic impact in Wisconsin and supports more than 4,000 jobs, according to figures from the board.

The board, made up of seven elected cranberry producers, directs money from an $0.25 per barrel assessment fee toward programs to bolster the industry in Wisconsin. Last year, growers in the state harvested about 4.8 million barrels of cranberries.

Of this year’s $1.1 million total, about $375,000 is going toward research projects at the Universities of Wisconsin, the University of Massachusetts and the USDA Agricultural Research Service. Areas of study will include disease detection and management, climate resilience such as cold hardiness and frost risk, as well as breeding for “improved varieties” of cranberries.

Another $620,000 is being spent on education and industry communications, including outreach to growers and consumers as well as market development, such as international trade efforts and weather forecasting. The final $125,000 will go toward health research, meant to advance “scientific understanding of cranberries’ role in human health” and support long-term growth in demand for the crop.

John Moss, president of the board and owner of Elm Lake Cranberry in Wisconsin Rapids, notes cranberry growers in the state act as stewards of the land. The state industry includes at least 250 growers across 19 counties, covering about 25,000 acres of cranberry fields.

“These investments help ensure we are caring for our marshes, making informed management decisions, and keeping this industry strong for the next generation,” he said in a statement.

See the release.

— The Board of Regents voted to extend UW’s test-optional admissions policy until 2028.

Administrators are expected to return to the board in the coming months to recommend whether to formalize test-optional admissions.

Applicants to the Universities of Wisconsin have not been required to submit ACT or SAT scores since the board suspended testing requirements in 2020, in the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The board extended that suspension in April 2024 through the end of the 2026-27 school year.

Researchers at UW-Madison’s Student Success Through Applied Research, or SSTAR Lab, found UW students’ academic outcomes have remained steady or improved since 2020. They also found that high school GPA more strongly correlated with college performance than test scores — though Lab Director Nick Hillman stressed these were preliminary findings.

Over 2,000 higher education institutions have test-optional admissions, according to a report provided to the Regents’ Education Committee, including all but two Big 10 universities.

GOP lawmakers sought to reinstate testing requirements for some UW-Madison applicants with a bill that would have made standardized testing the “predominant” factor in admissions for students not admitted through Wisconsin’s guaranteed admissions program.

That program guarantees admission to the system’s flagship university for Wisconsin high school students who rank in the top 5% of their high school class.

Gov. Tony Evers vetoed the bill on April 3.

— The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation has named entrepreneur Dr. Goutham Narla the new chief scientific officer for WARF Therapeutics.

This program partners with UW-Madison and the Morgridge Institute for Research to advance potential drug candidates, with a goal of developing new therapies and bringing them to market.

Narla started in the role earlier this month, succeeding Jon Young, who has led the program since it began in 2018. He hails from the University of Michigan, where he’s worked as a professor of internal medicine and human genetics, as well as chief of genetic medicine.

He also founded a biotech firm called Rappta Therapeutics, which is developing cancer therapies alongside Connecticut-based partner SpringWorks Therapeutics.

Napta says he’s excited to work with the “world-class team” at WARF alongside top researchers in Madison to advance the next great discoveries.

“This is truly a unique opportunity to make a meaningful impact in patient care,” he said in a statement.

See the release.

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— State officials have rolled out $118 million for local road work, with funding going to counties and municipalities across Wisconsin.

Gov. Tony Evers and the state Department of Transportation yesterday announced the funding, which comes from the 2025-27 biennial budget.

The total includes $109 million going to local units of government for General Transportation Aids, which help pay for building, maintaining and operating roads and streets that fall under local jurisdiction.

Another $4.3 million in Connecting Highway Aids is going to 116 municipalities, reimbursing them for maintenance and traffic control of certain state highways. The last $4.8 million in Expressway Policing Aids is going to Milwaukee County, to fund expressway patrolling by the county sheriff’s office.

“Whether you’re from Ashland in northwest Wisconsin, Cudahy in the southeast, or any number of communities in between, this funding is reaching your area and making a real difference,” Kristina Boardman, secretary for the state DOT, said in a statement on the funding.

See the release.

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