Prices, inventory, and demand — distilled every month into one clear verdict: buyer’s market or seller’s. The investor’s read, before you make an offer.
The median asking price in Madison is about $441,000 as of Oct 2026, up 6.3% from a year ago. The typical listing is 5% larger than a year ago, and asking price per square foot is down 0.9%. So the size of homes on the market explains much of the rise. That is the asking price on listed homes, so sold-price and home-value sites show different numbers (why).
Only on the right house. Neither side has the upper hand in Madison right now. Madison is close to its 2017–2019 normal for this time of year. The market will not hand you a discount. You have to find it in one specific listing.
54% of occupied homes in Madison's ZIP codes are rented, more than in 93% of the cities we track. HUD's county-wide fair market rent for 2 bedrooms is $1,694 a month, including utilities. A deep renter pool shortens vacancy. It also means you compete with other landlords on condition and price.
Most Madison households rent. 54 out of every 100 households are renters. That share has held steady for five years. Madison added about 9,100 renter households in five years. Renter households average 1.9 people. Singles and couples rent here. Two bedrooms beat four.
Households grew 12% in five years. The housing stock grew 11%. The two are moving in step. Just 3.7% of homes sit empty. A well-priced rental fills fast here.
The median Madison household earns $78,359 a year. Incomes here have grown 3.7% a year since 2019. Incomes and home prices are rising in step. A typical home costs 5.6 times the median income. Most locals cannot buy. That keeps rental demand deep. It also caps the rent they can pay. At 30% of income, a tenant on the median income can pay about $1,959 a month.
To see what one Madison address would rent for and cash flow, run it through the app.
Ranked among the 12 Wisconsin markets we track:
Across 9 full years, Madison asking prices ran lowest in January, about 2.5% below the year's average. They peaked in May. The most homes for sale show up in September, about 34% above the yearly average. Shop in September for choice, and expect the softest asking prices in January.
The median asking price is 8.2% below its May 2024 peak. You are not buying at the top. Prices stopped falling about a year ago. They are flat now. Waiting will not get you a cheaper house. It might still get you a more motivated seller. Madison prices have risen in 87 of the last 112 months. Drops here have been short and shallow. Buying in a slow month has rarely hurt a long hold.
This market is turning. Which way is not settled yet. Check the monthly numbers above before you commit.
Read whether a market fits Section 8 tenants and how we read these numbers, then run the numbers on a deal.
The median asking price in Madison is about $441,000 as of Oct 2026, up 6.3% from a year ago. The typical listing is 5% larger than a year ago, and asking price per square foot is down 0.9%. So the size of homes on the market explains much of the rise. This is the asking price on homes listed for sale. Sites that report sold prices or estimated home values will show a different number. Our Madison figures cover the 24 ZIP codes with a Madison mailing address, which can reach past city limits.
Neither side has the upper hand in Madison right now. We compare Madison with 2017–2019 at this time of year: there are 44 pending sales per 100 listings, against 63 then; listings spend 13% more days on the market; there are 4% fewer homes for sale.
The median asking price is 8.2% below its May 2024 peak. You are not buying at the top. Prices stopped falling about a year ago. They are flat now. Waiting will not get you a cheaper house. It might still get you a more motivated seller.
53703. Only 26 homes under contract for every 100 still for sale. 29% of sellers there have cut their price, and listings there spend a median 77 days on the market.
HUD's fiscal year 2026 fair market rent for Dane County is $1,694 a month for 2 bedrooms and $2,236 for 3 bedrooms. The figures include tenant-paid utilities and cover the whole county.
ZIP 53719 is on both lists. That is rare. It is the one place in Madison where leverage and growth overlap.
| ZIP | $/sqft, 2 yrs | $/sqft now | Buyers per home | For sale |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 53714 | +11.4% | $245 | 1.00 | 15 |
| 53717 | +8.1% | $222 | 0.74 | 19 |
| 53719 | +4.1% | $228 | 0.38 | 89 |
| 53718 | +3.3% | $230 | 0.42 | 66 |
| 53705 | +1.6% | $298 | 0.45 | 49 |
Computed from each ZIP's own ten-year history. ZIPs with fewer than 10 homes for sale are excluded: a median across a handful of listings is noise, not a signal.
Madison has 24 ZIP codes. Each links to its live market dashboard.
Closest matches on asking price, price per square foot, time on market, buyer demand, and price cuts.
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