The city of Madison’s Department of Planning, Community & Economic Development published its 2025 Housing Snapshot report, and the insights show progress has been made on providing more housing in Madison, but that the cost is rising much faster than income.
According to the report, homeownership costs are rising faster than incomes and high interest rates are making it difficult for Madison residents to become first-time homeowners.Â
Construction costs are also increasing, rising faster than the consumer price index, increasing house prices.Â
The report also noted nearly half of all Black households in Madison are “housing cost-burdened,” paying more than 30% of their monthly income on housing costs. White households are cost-burdened at a rate of 30%. Â
“The latest Housing Snapshot report shows our efforts to create more housing in Madison are beginning to pay off,” Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said in a statement. “We are starting to move toward a healthier rental vacancy rate, and city incentives mean affordable homes are still being built, even as construction costs rise. There are many encouraging signs in this report, but we also need to work to maintain our momentum and address the inequities that still exist in our housing market.”
Some of the other key takeaways from the report include:Â
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53% of people rent their homes;Â
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47% own their homes;
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4.8% stabilized rental vacancy rate (a healthy vacancy rate is 5-7%);
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0.6% owner-occupied vacancy rate (national average is 1.1%)
