U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) is looking to expand opportunities for Milwaukee residents to compete with out-of-state investors for homes in Milwaukee neighborhoods.
The Wisconsin senator is calling on the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) of Chicago to continue working with her office and Milwaukee affordable housing nonprofits on this initiative. Specifically, Baldwin is asking the FHLB of Chicago to work with lenders in Milwaukee to provide financial products to first-time homebuyers or mission-oriented organizations. This will help them compete with out-of-state investors for properties in their communities.
“Too many Wisconsinites struggle to find quality, affordable housing in their neighborhoods because wealthy out-of-state investors are buying up houses and locking out hard working families from home ownership,” Baldwin said. “That’s why I’m working with community partners to set up more Wisconsinites to buy homes, build generational wealth, and live in the neighborhoods they love.”
As of last year, out-of-state landlords owned over 7,000 single family homes in Milwaukee, up 50 percent since 2017 and 476 percent since 2005. Typically, these out-of-state investors rent their properties for well above what a homeowner would pay in monthly costs. A recent analysis by Marquette University and the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel found that out-of-state investors have almost exclusively targeted majority-Black neighborhoods in Milwaukee.
“Out-of-state investors are paying cash to buy dozens of Milwaukee homes at a time, putting affordable housing options for Milwaukee residents out of reach,” Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said. “I am grateful to Senator Baldwin for her leadership to address this problem by working with Milwaukee housing advocates and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago and I join her in encouraging the Bank to continue its work with the goal of developing innovative financial products to meet this challenge.”
To help facilitate local ownership, Baldwin helped to forge a partnership between the FHLB of Chicago and affordable housing advocates, like Acts Housing and the Community Development Alliance. These organizations created a loan product for graduates of their homebuyer counseling programs. By creating a mortgage product for graduates of these homebuyer counseling programs, more Wisconsinites can have a path towards homeownership.
“We know that racial inequities in homeownership rates and lack of access to affordable housing are challenges in Milwaukee County,” Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley said. “Rather than wealthy, out-of-state investors buying up homes just to make a profit, we must work to put Milwaukee’s housing stock back into the hands of Milwaukeeans.”
Michael Gosman, president & CEO of Acts Housing, said institutional purchases of single-family homes in Milwaukee coupled with mortgage rates at 20+ year highs have made homeownership increasingly out of reach for many families.
“This year Acts Housing has supported more than 300 families with low-to-moderate income to become first-time homebuyers, but our community compels us to do more. We are eager to work with all potential partners, including public and private sector stakeholders, to make sure exponentially more families in our region have a path towards sustainable homeownership,” Gosman said.