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(The Center Square) – Rising prices are not scaring Wisconsin home buyers away.
The latest Wisconsin Realtors Report, for March, shows another increase in prices. But it also shows a sizable jump in sales.
“Sales rebounded in March after a slow start in January and February. As we enter the peak period for sales, it’s good to see this bounce in closings, and hopefully it continues into the summer," Realtors chairwoman Amy Curler said.
March 2026 home sales jumped 7% compared to March of 2025. The real estate agends said they closed on 4,750 homes last month, compared to 4,441 last March.
Since January, home sales in Wisconsin have steadily grown.
According to the report, sales were up more than 2% for the first quarter of 2026. That is noteworthy, particularly because prices are growing as well.
"The annual appreciation of home prices ticked up, rising 6.5%, and the modest improvements in family income and mortgage rates just kept pace with that price increase. Supply remains tight, so we really need to see consistent reductions in mortgage rates for affordability to improve," Realtors CEO Tom Larson added.
The median price for a home in Wisconsin increased last month, jumping to $330,000. That's a 6.5% increase from March of last year.
That is, of course, the statewide median price. Homes in the Madison-area remain more expensive. The median price for a house in south central Wisconsin hit $395,000 last month. Homes in southeast Wisconsin, which includes Milwaukee, saw a median price of $340,000.
Homes in central and northern Wisconsin remain the only ones with a median price less than $300,000. The Realtors report said the median price there is $272,000. The median price in northern Wisconsin saw a median price of $275,000.
The report adds that interest rates on 30-year mortgages have fallen, but the real estate agents said there continues to be not enough homes for sales.
The California man accused of charging security and shooting a Secret Service officer at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner Saturday night will appear Monday in federal court.
Among other possible charges, the 31-year-old suspect, Cole Tomas Allen, is facing two counts of using a firearm during a crime of violence and one count of assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon, media outlets reported.
“It is clear that this individual was intent on doing as much harm as he could,” U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro posted on social media. “Thank God for our law enforcement who acted so quickly to prevent what could have been a horrific event.”
President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, and members of Trump's cabinet were at the event and were rushed out of the banquet hall of the Washington, D.C. Hilton., less than two miles from the White House.
The Hilton was also the place where John Hinckley Jr. shot President Ronald Reagan on March 30, 1981.
A long gun and shell casings were recovered at the scene, where Allen was detained. No one else but the Secret Service agent, who Trump said he spoke to and was doing OK, sustained injuries during the incident.
The Center Square's White House Bureau Chief Sarah Roderick-Fitch was in attendance at the event, and said she heard a loud noise before attendees started screaming. Secret Service agents then stormed the room and began escorting people out, Roderick-Fitch said.
Federal law enforcement officers searched the suspect's California home and interviewed members of his family.
According to reports from media outlets, Allen was an amateur video game developer and a tutor from Torrence, California. He graduated from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena in 2017 and donated $50 to the campaign of then presidential candidate Kamala Harris through ActBlue.
Allen’s “manifesto” sent to family members before the attack, which the New York Post reported Sunday, said he wanted to minimize casualties at the hotel but, "I would still go though most everyone here to get to the targets if it were absolutely necessary (on the basis that most "chose" to attend a speech by a pedophile, rapist and traitor, and are thus complicit) but I really hope it doesn't come to that."
Allen may enter a plea during his Monday arraignment.
(The Center Square) – The city of Port Washington approved a referendum Tuesday that would require future projects worth more than $10 million to be approved by taxpayers before being added to a tax increment district.
The initiative, in response to a large-scale AI data center in the city, passed with 2,710 votes of approval compared to 1,371 in opposition. More than 50% of the 8,257 registered Port Washington voters voted in the election.
The initiative came in response to an $8 billion data center project that is expected to receive more than $450 million in property tax breaks along with not paying state sales tax on everything from construction to the servers inside to electricity at the site, which is estimated to require as much electricity as the city of Los Angeles once fully operational.
“Tonight, democracy worked the way it’s supposed to,” said Great Lakes Neighbors Incorporated member Christine Le Jeune in a statement. “Over 1,000 residents signed the petition that put this measure on the ballot, and tonight Port Washington voters spoke with one clear voice. The people deserve a seat at the table when their tax dollars are on the line.”
Data centers have shown to be unpopular with voters as 69% of Wisconsin voters in a recent Marquette poll said that they believe that the cost of data centers outweigh the benefits.
Republican candidate for governor and Congressman Tom Tiffany vowed to “end subsidies for data centers in Wisconsin” if he becomes governor.
Wisconsin comedian Charlie Berens has also been outspoken about the secrecy and impact of data centers, especially the Port Washington project and process. Berens testified in support of a bill to block non-disclosure agreements at data centers that did not pass the Legislature before session closed.
Le Jeune and two others from Great Lakes Neighbors United were removed from a public meeting on the Port Washington project in December by police when, after her allotted three minutes to speak in public comment, she shouted “shame” and “recall” as she headed to her seat.
Video from the meeting then showed a police officer approaching Le Jeune in the audience and asking her to leave.
Le Jeune would not leave and then a second officer approached and then began pulling on her arms to remove her from the meeting. Le Jeune and two others were then taken to the floor in the meeting room and handcuffed before being removed from the building.
