Matt was commercial real estate pioneer

In the world of commercial real estate, Janet Barry Matt was a rarity.

Matt, of Hartland, who died Monday at the age of 82, was among the first female commercial real estate brokers in the Milwaukee area, and was the first woman in Wisconsin to become a member of the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors.

Matt was only the second woman in the nation to gain membership in the group, said her nephew, James T. Barry III, president of Cassidy Turley Barry, a Milwaukee commercial real estate brokerage.

"Janet was a pioneer in the world of commercial and residential real estate, a true professional and a mentor to many in the Wisconsin real estate community," Barry said.

Matt became a real estate broker in 1965, and in 1977 joined James T. Barry Co., the forerunner to Cassidy Turley Barry. That firm, which focuses on industrial and office sales and leases, was founded in 1921 by her father, James T. Barry, and was then operated by her brother, James T. Barry Jr.

At Barry Co., Matt was involved in numerous high-profile real estate transactions, including the sale of 200 acres to Rockwell Corp.; the sale of 27 acres to Kohl's Corp. for its first Menomonee Falls headquarters; and the sale of a 33,000-square-foot building in Milwaukee to Johnson Controls Inc.

After leaving Barry Co. in 1990, she and her two sons started Matt & Associates, a real estate brokerage in western Waukesha County. That firm's transactions included the sale of 26 acres Highways 16 and 83, in Delafield, for a new Pick 'n Save supermarket.

Source: http://www.jsonline.com/business/matt-was-commercial-real-estate-pioneer-6m6k4hn-167392425.html

Wisconsin real estate market continues to rebound

MILWAUKEE — The real estate market in Wisconsin continued to rebound last month, as sales of existing homes rose 19.5 percent and the median sale price nudged up 2.4 percent.

The figures released by the Wisconsin Realtors Association reflect the 10th straight month of double-digit sales growth in the state, including a rise in sales volume in every region of the state, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.

There were 5,218 Wisconsin homes sold in April, compared with 4,365 in April 2011. The median price was $128,000, up from $125,000 in the same month last year.

"With 10 straight months of double-digit growth in Wisconsin home sales, I think it's safe to say we've turned the corner on sales," Association President Michael Theo said.

The positive numbers, as well as other hopeful signs, such as multiple offers on a house, have given the beleaguered industry room for optimism.

"I think people are saying, 'OK, it's finally hit bottom,' and they are starting to get off the fence," Carla Scharf-Ewert, a broker based in Fond du Lac, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "I've had a couple houses listed for two years, and they have offers now."

However, the optimism is still tempered by the fact that there's still a healthy inventory of homes on the market, along with plenty of foreclosure properties keeping prices down.

From January to April, sales are up 19.9 percent, but the median sale price in that period is still down 1.1 percent.

"We've seen some false starts in the past, so I'm a little reluctant to say we've definitely hit bottom," said David Clark, a Marquette University economics professor. "The one thing that's a little different is that this is happening against a backdrop of pretty solid increases in sales, and that's been happening for almost a year now."

The better gauge of where the residential housing market stands is sales and prices over the summer months, Clark said.

Median prices were up in the northeast, north and south central parts of the state. But other areas, including southeastern Wisconsin, were still down from 2011 levels. The median price was down 1.6 percent in that region, but it fell a full 4.4 percent in the metro Milwaukee area where most of the state's foreclosed properties are concentrated.

Source: http://www.rrstar.com/news/x358792590/Wisconsin-real-estate-market-continues-to-rebound