Milwaukee Property Data provides insights into the local housing market.

As part of Regrid'ss involvement with LISC Milwaukee, this document from November 2020 is a deep dive on the current state of Milwaukee's housing market (as well as practical recommendations, background, and more).

Download the Report

What is this report about?

Milwaukee, alongside other Midwestern cities, is currently at a critical point in its history.

You’ve probably heard the saying that the three most important factors in real estate are “location, location, location.” What this tells us is that the value of a property is subjective - at the end of the day, a building is worth what someone else will pay for it. However, it is important to understand that this willingness to pay doesn’t occur in a vacuum - in a country obsessed with race and class, it is inevitable that these factors play an outsize part in shaping the market.

The fact that America is highly segregated by race and income is no accident. The federal govern - ment, realtors, and buyers themselves have actively pursued a variety of policies that cumula - tively led to neighborhoods segregated by race and class, most of which was completely legal, and some of which continues to this day.

Milwaukee is no exception. Even a brief drive around the city will starkly show that increasing home values and reinvestment are not occurring everywhere equally. There are 'hot' housing markets in some areas, with increasing values, and a decline in housing prices in 'cold' housing markets elsewhere.

Residents in both areas have concerns - loss of value and lack of bank lending/investment in 'cold' areas, and displacement and extremely rapid neighborhood change in 'hot' areas.

The purpose of this report is to use data to look into these invisible forces (the property market and evictions) more deeply, as a starting point. The goal is to show what’s happening in neighborhoods as well as provide a blueprint toward a brighter, more equitable future in whichever neighborhood you call home.