Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.real From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: real Mon, Mar 30 1992 Date: Mon, 30 Mar 92 05:43:33 EST Message-ID: 03-30 0000 DECISIONLINE: Real Estate USA TODAY Update March 30, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network GOOD ECONOMIC NEWS EXPECTED: Monday's report on new home sales should point to a recovery from the recession. Sales probably rose 2% last month, according to the forecast of 40 economists surveyed by consultants MMS International. Reports on consumer confidence and leading economic indicators should show we have entered a recovery, says Allen Sinai, economist at Boston Co. Economic Advisors JAPAN DEALING WITH 1980S SPREE: During the 1980s, an economic boom at home fueled an overseas shopping spree for many Japanese investors, purchasing office buildings, hotels and golf courses. Some of these deals have left problems for the Japanese. Serious structural problems have resulted from the speculation, says Daniel Burstein, author of "Yen! Japan's New Financial Empire & Its Threat to America." (For more, see special Japan package below.) FIXED RATES FALL: Fixed mortgage rates fell last week for the first time in almost two months, according to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. Rates on 30-year fixed mortgages averaged 8.98%, compared to 9.03% for the previous week. Rates on one-year adjustable mortgages averaged 6.19%, compared to 6.22% for the week before. 1992 GOOD FOR SMALL PURCHASES: Small, stable companies should find 1992 a good year to purchase their own facility, says Linda Greenberg, an industrial broker with Grubb & Ellis Company in San Diego and president of the Board of Directors of the National Network of Commercial Real Estate Women. Small Business Administration financing, favorable interest rates and reasonable prices should help small busineses, says Greenberg. AUCTION TO BE VIA SATELLITE: The California-based Grubb & Ellis:Ross-Dove Co. Inc. Real Estate Auction Partnership will auction more than 80 properties in 20 states May 21. The auction will be via satellite in San Francisco, Dallas and New York. Among the properties for sale are office buildings, industrial warehouses, hospitality and retail properties, mulit-family properties and land. IRS OFFERS REAL ESTATE GUIDES: Those 55 years old can reduce capital gains tax by taking advantage of an exclusion allowing them to avoid tax on profits of up to $125,000. For married persons filing separately, it's $62,500. For help, call the IRS at 1-800-829-3676 for these free guides: Tax Information on Selling Your Home (IRS Pub. 523) and Reporting Real Estate Transactions to the IRS (Pub. 924). HOBOKEN TO VOTE ON CONSTRUCTION: Residents of Hoboken, N.J., will vote Tuesday on a plan to construct a 1.88-million square-foot office-hotel complex on the city's waterfront. Foes of waterfront construction defeated a similar plan in 1990. The plan offers the last chance to rebuild the waterfront, says Mayor Patrick Pasculli. ST. LOUIS TO VOTE ON TAX HIKE: Residents of St. Louis will vote April 7 on a proposal that would increase local and county property taxes 10 cents per $100 of assessed property value. The proposal calls for using the money for a 1994 sports festival and to renovate Forest Park, the site of the 1904 World's Fair. SCHOOL PLAN LIMITS TAX HIKE: Milwaukee school Superintendent Howard Fuller has proposed a plan that would comply with the request of school board members asking that property tax increases not exceed 5%. The plan, which would help balance the budget by cutting staff at the district headquarters, will be considered by the school board Monday. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON JAPAN: CAPITAL NOW RETURNING HOME: Japan's mild recession, the near-collapse of the Tokyo stock market and a slump in inflated land value have ended easy credit, and capital that once freely flowed out of Japan is now changing direction. Japanese purchases of U.S. real estate have fallen 70% since 1988. Japanese spending for U.S. firms fell to $3.8 billion in 1991, says the Blackstone Group, a New York investment bank. LAVISH PURCHASES BROUGHT LOSSES: From 1987 through 1990, Japan spent nearly $65 billion on U.S. properties, including many lavish purchases that are now in question. Among the disasters: Minoru Isutani's 1990 purchase of California's Pebble Beach Golf Links for $841 million. Memberships to wealthy Japanese fell through, and losses reportedly hit $341 million when the land was sold to an arm of Sumitomo Bank. QUALITY BUYS WILL PAY OFF: Although some real estate deals have fallen through, major Japanese investors are looking further down the road, says Jack Rodman, a partner at Kenneth Leventhal accounting firm. When the U.S. market recovers, high-quality properties will serve them well. Even though Japan real estate investors are unhappy, they are better equipped than others to deal with it, says Rodman. (End of package.) Real Estate Editor: Christopher Goldthwaite. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. 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