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, Aug 11 1992 Date: Tue, 11 Aug 92 04:32:26 EDT Message-ID: 08-11 0000 DECISIONLINE: Real Estate USA TODAY Update Aug. 11, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network FILE FOR FANNIE MAE AWARDS: The Fannie Mae Foundation announced Monday that it is accepting applications for its Fifth Annual Maxwell Awards of Excellence Program for the Production of Low-Income Housing, an awards program that recognizes and rewards non-profit organizations working to develop and maintain housing. The foundation also announced that it has expanded the grant awards up to $250,000. JAPANESE REAL ESTATE SOURS: Corporate profits, likely to be down in the fiscal year's first half, are spooking investors in Japan, according to expert Sam Nakagama. Among the hardest-hit sectors of the Japanese economy: Real estate and banks that made loans to develop land. They're among Japan's largest stock owners and deflation in stock and land prices will lead to more problem loans, Nakagama says. LOUISIANA REFORMS LOCAL TAX: The Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana Monday introduced its constitutional convention proposals highlighted by sweeping local tax reform, which includes reducing the homestead exemption and keeping a 5.75 million state property tax. Gov. Edwin Edwards said he will be looking at the proposals of independent organizations, including PAR. FIRST WESTERN REMAINS ACTIVE: First Western Corp. of Scottsdale, Ariz., is still on the acquisition trail, said James R. Ries, the company's president. Ries said First Western, which conducts its mortgage-banking operations through its Wesav Mortgage Corp. unit, is in talks to buy a company about the same size as Greenwich Capital Financial Inc. First Western purchased Greenwich Capital on Monday. GREENWICH CAPITAL PURCHASED: Greenwich Capital Financial, a company that has a $2 billion residential mortgage servicing portfolio and produces more than $1 billion in single-family loans annually, was purchased Monday by First Western Corp., according to Bloomberg Business News. The transaction is valued at $130 million. This is the fifth purchase made by First Western since going public in March. SALES OF SECURITIES SLOWED: Asset-backed financing pools financial assets such as mortgages and converts them into capital market instruments. Last year, it accounted for about half the U.S. publicly offered securities. Under a proposal from the Securities and Exchange Commission, only fixed-income securities in the top two Moody's or Standard & Poor's categories can be sold to anyone but institutional advisors. EC TO PROBE CHEMICAL GLUT: The European Commission said Monday it opened an investigation into alleged dumping of ethanolamine on the EC market by U.S. producers. Ethanolamine, a product formed from the successive reactions of ammonia with ethylene oxide, is used in the manufacture of several products in different industries, including building materials. KVAERNER A:S AWARDED CONTRACT: Kvaerner A:S, a Norwegian engineering company, said Monday the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has awarded the construction contract for a power plant project at Mount Hope, N.Y. to a Kvaerner-led group. Kvaerner will receive about $257 million in orders linked to construction. Kvaerner estimated the total cost of the project at $2 billion. PASSTHROUGH GAP NARROWS: Mortgage passthroughs lagged early in the session, but most coupons soon outstripped comparable maturity Treasuries, leaving the yield gap between passthroughs and Treasuries slightly narrower, according to Bloomberg Business News. Mortgage-Treasury yield spreads should remain relatively stable this week in contrast to the last few weeks, traders said. FIXED-RATE MORTGAGES INCREASE: The rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages from the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. were listed at 8.06% Monday, up from Thursday and up from 8.05% the week before. They were at 9.44% a year ago. For 30-year adjustable-rate mortgages, the rates were 5.30%, down from Thursday and down from 5.37% the week before. A year ago they were at 7.22%. ARM INDEXES UNCHANGED: The one-year Treasury ARM index rates were listed at 3.57% Monday, unchanged from Thursday and unchanged from 3.57% the week before. A year ago they were at 6.18%. For the 11th District ARM index, rates were at 5.258%, unchanged from Thursday and unchanged also from the week before. A year ago they were at 7.155%. T-BONDS DECLINE: Treasury security rates for the 30-year bonds showed a decline Monday, listing at 7.36%. That's down 0.08 from rates of 7.44% Thursday and down 0.07 from 7.43% the week before. A year ago T-bonds were at 8.23%. Real Estate Editor: Martin Baucom. (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