APPLETON, Wis. (WFRV) – If you are in the market for a home in the Fox Valley, or anywhere in Wisconsin for that matter, you may be out of luck.

Local 5’s Katie Amrhein caught up with Jennifer Sunstrom, the Government Affairs Director with the Realtors Association of Northeast Wisconsin (RANW), who says the amount of homes available is dwindling.

A healthy, balanced real estate market is usually about six months of supply,” said Sunstrom. “Right now, we hover somewhere between two to three months of supply.”

According to RANW, the median price of a home is just above $300,000 statewide for the first time ever, which is an increase of more than 8% over last year.

Even for those not looking for a home, the housing crisis can still impact your community.

“This is impacting our businesses,” explained Sunstrom. “They are seeing a direct link between their inability to recruit workers to fill vacant job positions or even retaining current employees.”

There are some things you can do to make yourself stand out in the competitive landscape.

“Get a good realtor,” said Debra Dillenberg, the Executive Director of the Appleton Housing Authority. “Make sure that realtors have experience in maybe finding you a home and go to bat for you before it goes to market.”

The housing market may seem bleak, but in the Fox Valley, there is hope. RANW, along with other agencies, is set to launch a program called the “Housing Now Coalition” to provide the public with resources to help them through the home-buying process.

The Housing Now Coalition is expected to be available early next week.