A 2019 study by UW-Madison urban and regional planning professor Kurt Paulsen found the number of single-family home permits in the state dropped from more than 30,000 in 2004 to fewer than 12,500 permits authorized in 2017. The report found the lack of enough workforce housing was attributed to a failure to build enough homes to keep up with population growth, increased construction costs and outdated land use regulations driving up the cost of housing.
University Communications