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 Wed, Aug 19 1992 Date: Wed, 19 Aug 92 04:20:00 EDT Message-ID: 08-19 0000 DECISIONLINE: Real Estate USA TODAY Update Aug. 19, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network MORE EYEING 20-YEAR MORTGAGES: Members of the forty-something crowd who want to own their homes mortgage-free when they retire are discovering 20-year home loans. The loans are luring those who want to pay off a home loan in less than 30 years but who can't afford a 15-year mortgage's high payments. Fannie Mae has financed $3.1 billion in 20-year mortgages in six months, 76% more than a year earlier. HOUSING STARTS FALL: New home construction fell 2.8% to an annual rate of 1,119,000, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. Officials of the National Association of Home Builders cited an overall weakness in the economy as the cause of the fall. Long-term mortgage rates are the lowest since 1973, and adjustable-rate mortgages are at all-time lows. The south is the only region where housing starts rose. NAHB WANTS NEW TAX CREDIT: The National Association of Home Builders called Tuesday for Congress to enact a tax credit for first-time home buyers with hopes of stimulating a declining market. Housing starts dropped 2.8% in July. Before Congress adjourned last week, the Senate was poised to vote on a tax bill which included a $2,500 tax credit for first-time home buyers. Congress reconvenes in September. MICHIGAN MARKET MOST AFFORDABLE: Jackson, Mich., assumed the mantle of the nation's most affordable housing market during the second quarter of 1992. The Housing Opportunity Index, compiled by the National Association of Home Builders, revealed Tuesday that Jackson scored highest of the 173 metropolitan areas surveyed. San Francisco remained the nation's most expensive housing market. COMPETITION FOR NEW DESIGNS SET: Architects, builders and consumers have until Oct. 2 to enter a nationwide competition for accessible housing designs. Sponsored by Rhode Island Housing and Mortgage Finance Corp., which announced the deadline Tuesday, the competition seeks low-cost changes to living spaces for the physically handicapped. The competition is in response to the new Americans with Disabilities Act. DESIGNS WILL BE PUBLISHED: Rhode Island Housing and Mortgage Finance Corporation announced Tuesday plans to publish a collection of living space designs for the physically handicapped. The designs will come from an RIHMFC-sponsored competition for the best designs. The publication will serve as a reference for future projects. RIHMFC finances the purchase, construction and rehabilitation of affordable housing. IBM SELLS TWO PLANTS: International Business Machines Corp. said Tuesday it agreed to sell two electronic card assembly plants in Bordeaux, France, and Charlotte, N.C., Bloomberg Business News reported. The plants were sold to Solectron Corp. for about $55 million in cash. The sale of the plants is part of IBM's plan to streamline its business and reduce real estate assets, said Paul Neuman, an IBM spokesman. ANTI-SWAY SYSTEMS PASS TESTS: Two systems designed to prevent large buildings from swaying during earthquakes have been successfully tested in Toykyo. One system involves moving a large mass inside the building to counteract the movement created by the quake, while the other uses a network of sensors and hydraulyics that create opposing movements several hundred time per second. Both systems cut sway by about 40%. AMERICANA REPORTS LOSSES: Americana Hotels and Realty Corp. today announced a second quarter loss of $238,000, or four cents a share, compared to earnings of $30,000, or one cent per share, in 1991. The 1992 results were impacted by legal expenses of $217,000 for the quarter in connection with litigation on two of its investments. The corporation is a real estate investment trust. RCC ANNOUNCES LOSSES: Robertson-Ceco Corp. of Boston, which provides construction products and services worldwide, reported Tuesday a second quarter 1992 net loss of $18.2 million, or $1.25 per share, on revenues of $81.2 million. That's higher than a second quarter 1991 net loss of $10.0 million, or 69 cents per share, on revenues of $157.9 million. Officials blamed weak construction markets worldwide. FIXED-RATE MORTGAGES STABLE: The rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages from the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. were listed at 7.96% Tuesday, unchanged from Monday but down from 8.06% the week before. They were at 9.19% a year ago. For 30-year adjustable-rate mortgages, the rates were 5.30%, unchanged from Monday and unchanged from the week before. A year ago they were at 7.05%. ARM INDEXES UNCHANGED: The one-year Treasury ARM index rates were listed at 3.43% Tuesday, unchanged from Monday but down from 3.57% the week before. A year ago they were at 5.72%. For the 11th District ARM index, rates were at 5.258%, unchanged from Monday and unchanged 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 Tuesday, listing at 7.33%. That's down 0.03 from rates of 7.36% Monday but up 0.02 from 7.31% the week before. A year ago T-bonds were at 8.09%. 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. 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