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, Oct 9 1992 Date: Fri, 9 Oct 92 04:40:11 EDT Message-ID: 10-09 0000 DECISIONLINE: Real Estate USA TODAY Update Oct. 9-11, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network BACKLASH HITS CHARLESTON: Charleston, S.C., which sustained heavy damage in 1989 from Hurricane Hugo, is wallowing in an economic bust because of the storm. For 18 months afterward, the construction industry was booming as it lined its pockets with insurance money. Now there is little building to be done and the construction business is a bust. (For more, see special Charleston package below.) AARP APPLAUDS HOUSING ACT: The American Association of Retired Persons Thursday applauded the final passage of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 and urged President Bush to sign the measure. The bill would provide federal mortgage insurance to develop assisted living facilities and preserve housing for older persons. AARP SAYS BILL WOULD SEGREGATE: The American Association of Retired Persons said Thursday that a bill on President Bush's desk would fund housing for older persons. At present, the AARP says, an increasing number of deinstitutionalized younger persons with mental illness and substance abuse histories have been placed in elderly housing projects, reducing housing for seniors. COUSINS OFFERS SHARES: Cousins Properties Inc.'s offering of 4 million shares was priced at $14.00 a share Thursday for sale by an underwriting group led by Lazard Freres & Co. Cousins Properties has 17.34 million shares outstanding. Proceeds from the offering will be used to purchase income-producing office buildings and other commercial properties. CALDOR WILL SUBMIT A BID: Caldor Corp. is likely to submit a bid for six stores in New York City that bankrupt retailer Alexander's Inc. has tentatively agreed to lease to Bradlees Inc., a lawyer for Caldor said Thursday. Caldor aldo dropped an objection to bidding procedures for the Alexander's properties it filed Tuesday. CHAMPION TO EXPAND PRODUCTION: Champion Enterprises Inc. will be investing close to $4 million over the next seven months to expand its manufactured housing production capacity, officials said Thursday. The company will upgrade its four manufacturing facilities, pushing production to the 10,000-unit range in 1993. And they say the outlook is good in all markets except California and the Northeast. FIXED-RATE MORTGAGES STABLE: The rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages from the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. were listed at 8.02% Thursday, unchanged from Wednesday and unchanged from the week before. They were at 8.87% a year ago. For 30-year adjustable-rate mortgages, the rates were 5.02%, unchanged from Wednesday and unchanged from the week before. A year ago they were at 6.74%. ARM INDEXES UNCHANGED: The one-year Treasury ARM index rates were listed at 3.02% Thursday, unchanged from Wednesday but down from 3.16% the week before. A year ago they were at 5.40%. For the 11th District ARM index, rates were at 4.874%, unchanged from Wednesday and unchanged from the week before. A year ago they were at 6.845%. T-BONDS DECLINE: Treasury security rates for the 30-year bonds showed a decrease Thursday, listing at 7.44%. That's down 0.04 from rates of 7.48% Wednesday but up 0.12 from 7.32% the week before. A year ago T-bonds were at 7.96%. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON CHARLESTON: CONSTRUCTION HITS THE WALL: Charleston's construction boom after 1989's Hurricane Hugo has hit the wall. It may take a decade for the normal construction cycle to come back. Disasters force simultaneous replacement, which means the 10% of Charleston homes that would otherwise be needing a new roof this year, won't. They were all replaced after the hurricane. The same will happen in Florida after Hurricane Andrew. CLAIMS COMPOUNDED THE PROBLEM: Compounding the problem, many people confess they were overpaid on insurance claims, says economics professor Al Parish of Charleston Southern University. A lot of that money was spent to modernize kitchens and add fireplaces - spending that would've been spread over several years. Hugo sucked future spending into the present. NUMBERS OF JOBS SHRUNK: In Charleston, the boom-and-bust went like this: Before Hugo there were 13,400 construction workers employed in the area. In August 1990, at the peak of repairs, there were 15,400, most working overtime. Now it's 12,800, shrinking, and mostly part-time. Total damage to the state was $6.3 billion. Florida lost about $30 billion, so the boom will be more intense, the bust more severe. (End of package.) 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