Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.real From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: real Tue, Jul 7 1992 Date: Tue, 7 Jul 92 05:13:30 EDT Message-ID: 07-07 0000 DECISIONLINE: Real Estate USA TODAY Update July 7, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network POWER OF RATE CUT DOUBTED: Falling mortgage rates may give only a slight boost to the housing market, experts say. Although mortgage rates are falling back to near January's 20-year low, buyers, held back by worries over job security and bad employment news, have yet to enter the market. "Everybody is a little bit leery about their future." says Chuck Lamb, a Los Angeles area realtor. (For more, see special Rates package below.) LENDERS LOWERING RATES: Mortgage interest rates are falling fast. Rates on some 30-year fixed-rate loans have been sliced to as low as 7.75%, since Thursday, when the Federal Reserve cut its key discount rate to 3% from 3.5%. According to rate tracker HSH Associates, 160 lenders were offering 30-year fixed loans at 8% or less at the end of last week - triple the number from the prior week. DROP IN OWNERSHIP ENDS: The U.S. home ownership rate has stabilized after dropping in the early 1980s, the Census Bureau says. After rising steadily from 1940 to 1980, the home ownership rate dropped from 65.6% in 1980 to 63.9% in 1989. But a Census Bureau study, "Housing in America: 1989-90," found that the decline came before 1985 and the ownership rate has since remained statistically unchanged. OLDER PEOPLE BUYING HOMES: The larger number of young adults remaining single accounted for the drop in home ownership rates during the early 1980s, the Census Bureau says. However, more older Americans are marrying and buying homes, stabilizing U.S. home ownership rates, says a Census Bureau report, "Housing in America: 1989-90." The study also found that in 1988, 57% of all families couldn't afford a median-priced home. FORBES NAMES RICHEST MAN: Tokyo real-estate tycoon Taikichiro Mori is the world's richest man for the second year in a row, Forbes magazine says. Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, another Japanese real-estate developer who ranked as the richest individual in the world for three years before Mori, now is second, with a fortune estimated at $10 billion. Forbes once valued his riches at $18 billion. STUDY CITES RISING TAXES: County property taxes in New York rose by 121% to $2.7 billion from 1980 to 1990, according to a survey released Monday by the Public Policy Institute. County taxes overall rose by more than twice the rate of inflation during the decade, mostly because of state-mandated spending on Medicaid, education and employee benefits, says the study. DEVELOPMENT RULE CRITICIZED: A Hawaii County regulation places an unfair burden on developers, opponents say. The rule, which requires developers to make $3 million in community improvements, have caused delays of 14 golf courses planned on the Big Island, they say. FIXED-RATE MORTGAGES FALL: The rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages from the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. were listed at 8.29% Monday, down from 8.43% Wednesday and down from 8.48% the week before. They were at 9.62% a year ago. For 30-year adjustable-rate mortgages, the rates were 5.69%, down from 5.78% Wednesday and down from 5.84% the week before. A year ago they were at 7.25%. Rates from Thursday are unavailable because of the Fourth of July holiday. ARM INDEXES DROP: The one-year Treasury ARM index rates were listed at 3.96% Monday, down from 4.14% Wednesday and down from 4.14% the week before. A year ago they were at 6.40%. For the 11th District ARM index, rates were at 5.290%, unchanged from Wednesday but down from 5.427% the week before. A year ago they were at 7.329%. T-BONDS DECLINE: Treasury security rates for the 30-year bonds showed a decline Monday, listing at 7.62%. That's down 0.12 from rates of 7.74% Wednesday and down 0.15 from 7.77% the week before. A year ago T-bonds were at 8.49%. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON RATES: HOUSING FALTERS AT CRUCIAL TIME: Employment woes have slowed the housing industry just when the economy needs a boost most. New home sales have fallen almost 25%, seasonally adjusted, since January 31. The supply of unsold new homes has been slowly rising since March 31, and, so far, builders haven't slowed home starts. "The direction is all wrong," says John Tuccillo of the National Association of Realtors. EXPERTS STRESS JOB GROWTH: The housing market's weakness is a bad sign for the overall economy. Home buyers boosted the economy after the Gulf War last year. And surging home starts helped a weakening economy again last fall. But that may not happen again. The housing market can't grow in the face of sluggish economy, says John Tuccillo. "We have to start seeing some decent job growth," he says. SEVERAL MARKETS STILL HEALTHY: However, some hold a brighter outlook. New home sales are still healthly in some markets, including Texas, Arizona and Colorado, says Tim Eller, president of Centex, the USA's largest home builder. "We're still cautiously optimistic," he says. (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. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. 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