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 Thu, Jul 23 1992 Date: Thu, 23 Jul 92 04:33:09 EDT Message-ID: 07-23 0000 DECISIONLINE: Real Estate USA TODAY Update July 23, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network HOUSING SUBSIDIES OVERPAID: The federal government is paying millions of dollars a year too much in public housing subsidies because many renters understate their income to qualify for assistance, say congressional investigators. The General Accounting Office estimated in a report obtained Wednesday that overpayment was as much as $41 million in 1989 for less than 4% of subsidized households. (For more, see special HUD package below.) MORTGAGE PASSTHROUGHS RISE: Mortgage passthroughs rose more than 1:8 as U.S. Treasury bond prices gained, leaving mortgage-Treasury yield spreads little changed, Bloomberg Business News reported Wednesday. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said that long-term rates would decline while inflation remained under control. The remarks pushed Treasuries higher, pulling mortgage passthroughs with them. COLLATERAL DEMAND PERSISTENT: Prices of mortgage passthroughs, up more than 1:8 after Fed chairman Alan Greenspan's remarks to a House subcommittee Wednesday, were also boosted by persistent demand for collateral to back new real estate mortgage investment conduits. Thirty-year mortgage passthroughs kept pace with Treasuries, leaving the yield gap between passthroughs and Treasuries little changed. PSC ACQUIRES OFFICE BUILDING: PSC Associates Limited Partnership has acquired a premier New Orleans office building, Place St. Charles, it was announced Wednesday. The title has been transferred under a mutual agreement with the previous owners. Tenants will not see any interruption in services. Hines Interests Limited Partnership will handle day-to-day management. AGENCY MAKES ANTI-DRUG TAPE: The New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency has made a video called "A Friend Too Late," dealing with drug use in public housing. Jacket copy says that the video "tells the story of growing up" with the realities of drugs, violence and death. The agency is making the video available to its developments. Call the agency at 609-890-8900 ext. 443 to obtain the tape. HOUSING STARTS INCREASE: Seasonally adjusted Canadian housing starts went up 7.8% in the second quarter from the first quarter, economist Gilles Proulx said Wednesday. Proulx, chief economist at Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., said housing starts rose to an annual rate of 165,000 from 153,000 in the first quarter. Housing starts increased in Quebec and the Atlantic provinces, the housing agency said. HOUSING PROJECT DEDICATED: The Women's Development Corp. in Providence, R.I., has dedicated a 23-unit, $1.9 million low-income housing project. Rent for the units, in nine refurbished homes, range from $375 for two bedrooms to $448 for four bedrooms. FIXED-RATE MORTGAGES UNCHANGED: The rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages from the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. were listed at 8.09% Wednesday, unchanged from Tuesday and down from 8.13% the week before. They were at 9.54% a year ago. For 30-year adjustable-rate mortgages, the rates were 5.50%, unchanged from Tuesday and down from 5.56% the week before. A year ago they were at 7.23%. ARM INDEXES UNCHANGED: The one-year Treasury ARM index rates were listed at 3.53% Wednesday, unchanged from Tuesday and down from 3.64% the week before. A year ago they were at 6.23%. For the 11th District ARM index, rates were at 5.290%, unchanged from Tuesday and unchanged also from 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 Wednesday, listing at 7.61%. That's down 0.05 from rates of 7.61% Tuesday and down 0.08 from 7.69% the week before. T-bonds were at 8.41% one year ago. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON HUD: SMALL PERCENTAGE GETS OVERPAID: The federal government is overpaying housing subsidies - $41 million in 1989 - to less than 4% of 4.6 million homes subsidized by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, according to a General Accounting Office report obtained Wednesday. About 21% of 174,523 subsidized households matched against tax records by the GAO may have underreported income by $138 million. SOME MAY BE INELIGIBLE: The households who underreported income received a larger rental subsidy than deserved, the GAO said. The GAO also discovered that assistance may have gone to ineligible people or families. Of the 35,835 households that potentially understated their incomes, 22,300 reported no earnings to housing officials but had income on 1989 tax records. TENANT FRAUD ALWAYS A PROBLEM: The GAO reported its findings as estimates because tax data disclosure restrictions prevented it from contacting families involved to verify the figures. HUD Secretary Jack Kemp said that tenant fraud has been a problem "from the inception of the program." The study showed income misrepresentation to be more extensive than previously thought. (End of package.) Real Estate Editor: Beth Mann. (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. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM