Madison, WI - August 22, 2008 - (RealEstateRama) — The Hampshire Companies, a full-service, private real estate investment fund manager with equity in assets valued at over $2 billion, recently announced the disposition of its 66,723-square-foot East Towne Shopping Center in Madison, Wis. The sale was made to Capitol East Towne, LLC. The property was owned by The Hampshire Generational Fund, one of the firm’s private equity real estate investment funds tailored to high net worth investors, and Abraham Schlussel. more »

MADISON, WI - August 15, 2008 - (RealEstateRama) — Wisconsin property values increased slightly from 2007, according to the Wisconsin Department of Revenue’s Equalized Values Report released today. State residential property values grew by 3%, or $10.09 billion, between January 1, 2007 and January 1, 2008. more »

WASHINGTON, D.C. - July 28, 2008 - (RealEstateRama) — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced today that it has charged the owners and property manager of a Wisconsin rental property with housing discriminating for refusing to rent certain apartments to families with children. HUD alleges that the Joseph Peltz Trusts Numbers 1 and 2 and Rebecca Peltz, owners of an eight-unit apartment building in West Allis, and the on-site property manager, Crystal Sahr, unlawfully required tenants with children to rent apartments on the building’s first floor or excluded them entirely. more »

New On Demand Option Gives REALTORS® Greater Flexibility on Mandatory Continuing Education

MADISON, WI - July 23, 2008 - (RealEstateRama) — The WRA has been awarded top online education feature from the National Association of REALTORS® for its new Distance Learning on Demand product. This innovative program allows REALTORS® to take their mandatory 12 hours of continuing education anytime, anywhere using a Web browser and broadband connection. Courses are held exclusively online. Students take coursework at their own pace, on their own schedule and without the hassle of travel. more »

APPLETON, WI - July 23, 2008 - (RealEstateRama) — Governor Jim Doyle today announced awards totaling $6,602,685 to 85 organizations across Wisconsin for emergency shelter, homeless prevention, assistance and transitional programs administered by the Division of Housing and Community Development in the Department of Commerce (Commerce). more »

MADISON, WI - July 23, 2008 - (RealEstateRama) — Governor Jim Doyle today announced grant awards of $4.2 million in Rental Housing Development Grants from the Department of Commerce (Commerce) for development of additional rental housing. The funds support housing project sites in a dozen locations throughout the state. more »

MADISON - Governor Jim Doyle announced today that Silverstone Partners, Inc. will receive a $409,500 Blight Elimination and Brownfield Redevelopment (BEBR) grant from the Department of Commerce (Commerce) to help redevelop an unoccupied and underutilized property in Kenosha County. more »

MADISON - Local government officials, municipal managers, building regulation supervisors and fire department officials looking to better coordinate delivery of regulatory services for the built environment will want to attend the second annual meeting of the Wisconsin Building Safety Network (WBSN) to be held September 24, 2008, at the Country Springs Hotel in Pewaukee. more »

Stevens Point WI, May 02, 2008 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development State Director, Frank Frassetto, announced the approval of the Farmers State Bank of Waupaca as a Guaranteed Rural Housing (GRH) lender. 

“We welcome the Farmers State Bank of Waupaca to our growing list of approved lenders offering GRH financing  and look forward to this new partnership – working together to make the dream of homeownership possible for all Wisconsin rural residents”, said Frassetto.  “Building partnerships is a great way for our agency to meet the challenges put forth by the Bush administration to increase home ownership in rural America,” he added. more »

Madison - Declining home sales nationwide and bad weather here in Wisconsin combined to drive state home sales down in the first quarter of 2008 compared to that same quarter in 2007, yet home prices fell only slightly, according to figures recently released by the Wisconsin REALTORS® Association (WRA). more »