Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.real,americast.usa-today.real From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: real Fri, Sep 18 1992 Date: Fri, 18 Sep 92 04:43:57 EDT Message-ID: 09-18 0000 DECISIONLINE: Real Estate USA TODAY Update Sept. 18-20, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network AUCTION ATTRACTS CELEBRITIES: Entrepreneurs and celebrities worldwide have responded to the news that the historic Aknusti estate in the Catskill Mountains, Andes, N.Y., will be auctioned Thursday, Oct. 1, by the J.P. King Auction Group. Since the announcement was made, over 500 people, including race care driver Rick Mears and media magnate Chris Whittle, have requested background and bidding information. LENDER ACCUSED OF BIAS: Federal officials, for the first time, formally accused a mortgage lender of racial bias, announcing the case's settlement at the same time. The Justice Department says Atlanta-area Decatur Federal Savings and Loan Association, systematically favored whites over blacks in home loans. Decatur agreed to expand its lending territory; advertise to black audiences; and retrain its personnel. FIRM ANNOUNCES AUCTION: Real estate auction-marketing company Kennedy-Wilson Inc. will auction 25 commercial properties owned by the Resolution Trust Corp. in Texas. The properties, valued at $20 million, include retail, office and industrial buildings. The deadline for submitting bids is Oct. 26. CHICAGO MAYOR HINTS AT HIKE: Chicago Mayor Richard Daley says he can't eliminate the possibility of including a property tax increase in the budget that he plans to present in October. The hike may be needed because of a projected 1993 budget gap of $66 million, Daley says. INDIANA STILL WRITING CHECKS: Indiana is still issuing checks to residents in the southern part of the state whose property was damaged by last month's flooding, officials say. Payments go on even though federal funds have been depleted by hurricanes and the Los Angeles riots. Of the $1.3 million federal funds available to Indiana, only $350,000 has been claimed. FIRM CONSIDERS INNER-CITY STORE: Wal-Mart said Thursday it may open a store in the inner city area of Kansas City, a dramatic switch from the discount retail giant's traditional rural and suburban markets. The department store chain says it is actively looking for a site in midtown Kansas City. RAIL ACCORD REACHED: The Department of Transportation has signed agreements totaling $325.6 million to begin construction of the last 13.5 miles of Washington's 103-mile Metrorail system, Transportation Deputy Secretary Arthur J. Rothkopf announced Thursday. The deal should bring nearly 30,000 jobs, including 3,000 in the construction industry, to the Washington, D.C., area, Rothkopf said. ILL. DROPS ARCHAIC LAW: Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar has approved a measure to drop a 19th-century state law that denies non-citizens the same land rights as U.S. citizens. Under the law, aliens were allowed to hold title to property for only 6 years. KANSAS PONDERS STATEWIDE TAX: Kansas lawmakers are considering a regionalized state community college system in which all counties would levy property taxes to support the state's 19 two-year schools. Property taxes would join tuition and state aid as revenue sources, officials said. Since 1965, only counties in which the college is located levied taxes. FIXED-RATE MORTGAGES STABLE: The rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages from the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. were listed at 7.84% Thursday, unchanged from Wednesday but down from 7.94% the week before. They were at 9.02% a year ago. For 30-year adjustable-rate mortgages, the rates were 5.15% Thursday, unchanged from Wednesday but down from 5.24% the week before. A year ago they were at 6.87%. ARM INDEXES UNCHANGED: The one-year Treasury ARM index rates were listed at 3.17 Thursday, unchanged from Wednesday but down from 3.52% the week before. A year ago they were at 5.58%. For the 11th District ARM index, rates were at 5.258%, unchanged from Wednesday and unchanged from the week before. A year ago they were at 6.998%. T-BONDS UNMOVED: Treasury security rates for the 30-year bonds were stable Thursday, listing at 7.33%. That's unchanged from Wednesday but up 0.09 from 7.24% the week before. A year ago T-bonds were at 7.91%. 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. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM