THU AM News: February marks ‘strong month’ for home sales in metro Milwaukee; Milwaukee Dems want to establish state-funded medical debt abolition program

March 12, 2026

— February home sales in the greater Milwaukee area rose by 2.9% over the year, marking a “solid month” for the region’s housing market.

That’s from the Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors’ latest monthly report, which shows 964 homes were sold in February across Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozaukee and Washington counties. That number was 937 in February 2025.

Looking at the broader southeastern Wisconsin region — wrapping in Sheboygan, Racine, Kenosha and Walworth counties — the increase was even greater at 4.3%. February home sales rose from 1,312 to 1,369 over the year for the region.

Most of the sales in February were negotiated in December and January, which are typically among the slowest months for homebuying activity, report authors noted.

Listings are on the rise in most counties in the region, signaling a positive trend for the industry.

In the four-county metro area, Washington County’s decline of 4.5% was easily outweighed by double-digit percentage increases for the other three counties, driving the area’s overall increase to 16.3%.

Similarly, the larger southeastern Wisconsin region saw a 15.7% increase over the year with 2,133 total listings in February. Of that total, 1,578 were within the four-county metro area.

“Inventory has been on the rise for over two years, rising in 24 of the last 32 months,” authors wrote. “But that has not been enough to meet demand.”

The report details how higher interest rates caused listings to plummet in recent years, going from a peak of 2,240 in February 2022 down to 1,610 in July 2023, a decline of 28%. GMAR notes early 2022 already had low listings and inventory that weren’t meeting buyer demand at the time, making the drop that much more impactful.

Since summer 2023, listings have improved by 12% to about 1,800, which report authors called “a positive sign, but frustratingly slow.”

Meanwhile, the average home price rose 1.9% over the year to reach $408,238.

GMAR projects the metro area would have needed nearly 4,800 more housing units in February to reach a balanced market, with about six months of supply. Reaching that threshold is important “because it provides a wider selection for buyers to choose from, moderates price inflation and offers more time for buyers to decide on a home,” authors wrote.

See more in the report.

— Two Milwaukee-area Democrats are proposing a state-funded medical debt abolition program, arguing it could get rid of hundreds of millions of dollars in debt for “a fraction of its face value.”

Sen. Dora Drake and Rep. Priscilla Prado this week sent a co-sponsorship memo for LRB-6421, seeking support for their proposed program within the state Department of Health Services.

“Medical debt should not follow Wisconsin families for years after they have recovered from illness or injury,” they wrote.

The bill would provide $10 million to the agency in each of the fical years 2025-26 and 2026-27, to purchase the medical debt of Wisconsin residents from commercial debt collectors and health care providers, according to the Legislative Reference Bureau. Authors note medical debt is often sold on secondary markets “for pennies on the dollar.”

The agency would be tasked with abolishing the medical debt in a way that “minimizes the effect on the eligible resident’s tax liability,” and wouldn’t be able to seek payment from an eligible resident for their medical debt. The legislation also includes a provision on related exclusions for calculating state income tax.

The debt relief program would only be available to state residents whose household income is at or below 400% of the federal poverty level, or who has medical debt equal to 5% or more of their household income, the memo shows.

Authors note medical debt is one of the top causes of financial hardship for state residents, adding those with medical debt are less likely to get important medical care. Nearly 400,000 residents have some form of medical debt, according to the memo.

Wisconsin also has racial disparities when it comes to medical debt, authors say, referencing a statewide survey that found 58% of respondents of color reported going into debt, depleting savings or going without other needs due to medical bills. For white residents, the percentage was 35%.

Other states have established medical debt relief programs in recent years. That includes Illinois, which has gotten rid of more than $400 million in medical debt last year alone, the state announced.

The co-sponsorship deadline is Monday.

See the bill text.

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— Farmers in western Wisconsin are applying conservation practices on more land in the region, a new survey finds.

The Western Wisconsin Conservation Council this week released results from its 2025 Member Conservation Practice Survey, which gathered responses from 51 farmers. Respondents last year used conservation practices on about 202,000 acres, marking an increase from 174,000 acres in the prior year.

Since 2018, the first year for which the effort has survey data, this figure has grown substantially from about 27,000 acres.

The farmers last year planted about 20,000 acres of cover crops, used no-till farming practices along with cover crops on another 8,300 acres and no-till alone on 16,000 acres.

These practices reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 6,680 metric tons of CO2 equivalents, equal to taking 1,590 cars off the road, according to an analysis of potential impacts. The conservation work also prevented sediment loss by an estimated 86,000 tons, equal to about 8,600 dump trucks full of soil.

Plus, the conservation practices are estimated to have reduced phosphorus runoff by 102,000 pounds, preventing as much as 50.8 million pounds of algae growth in local bodies of water.

The data was analyzed by the industry-based Farmers for Sustainable Food as well as Houston Engineering Inc., a civil engineering firm with offices in Minnesota.

See the full results.

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