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 Tue, Oct 13 1992 Date: Tue, 13 Oct 92 05:19:04 EDT Message-ID: 10-13 0000 DECISIONLINE: Real Estate USA TODAY Update Oct. 13, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network TIME SHARES ARE A HARD SELL: Time shares where investors pay a flat fee plus an annual upkeep charge to permanently reserve a spot at a resort for a week or two each year are among the most difficult real estate investments to unload, according to the Vacation Ownership Council. The group estimates the average time-share unit sits on the market 4.4 years. As many as 60% of time shares in the USA are currently up for sale. REALTORS' GROUP PUSHES FOR BILL: The National Association of Realtors issued a strong endorsement of H.R. 11 Monday. The housing bill is awaiting the signature of President Bush. Dorcas T. Helfant, president of the NAR, says the bill is necessary to the housing and real estate industry's recovery. Helfant said the real estate industry cannot be expected to lead economic recovery without passage of the bill. GROUP COURTS TAIWANESE JOBS: The New York Building Congress is courting business in Taiwan. A group of Taiwanese construction industry representatives are in New York through Thursday, touring different developments. Establishing a relationship with these emissaries comes as Taiwan sets out on a six-year, $180 billion capital redevelopment plan, including airports, roads, mass transit and housing. GRASSLANDS HANG IN THE BALANCE: What people do with millions of acres of Conservation Reserve Program lands when contracts begin to expire in 1996 may begin to correct some wrongs committed to the Great Plains for more than a century. That was the conclusion reached at a recent CRP symposium about the future of grasslands. Speakers said there is a chance that new technologies could facilitate further damage of that land. PROGRAM HAD THE RIGHT IDEA: The federal program to pay farmers to plant highly erodible land in perennial vegetation for a 10-year span has done much to curtail soil loss, said speakers at a recent Conservation Reserve Program symposium. Speakers maintained that much of the Great Plains is so fragile it is better suited to permanent vegetation than frequent cultivation. RESEARCH CENTER BREAKS GROUND: The Christopher Columbus Center of Marine Research and Exploration in Baltimore will hold its ground-breaking ceremony Tuesday on the 500th anniversary of Columbus' landing in the Americas. The center will open in late 1994 in the Inner Harbor. The $160 million facility will be a world center for marine research. MOVEMENT REPORTS DONATIONS: We Will Rebuild, the broad-based community movement to re-build the devastated areas of South Dade County Fla., has received more than $18 million in donations as of Friday. Officials said that contributions have come from 39 states, two foreign countries, dozens of corporations and thousands of individuals. People have paid by check, money order, cash and in some cases, food stamps. MOBILE HOME SALES SOAR: Sales of manufactured homes are soaring around the nation and Clayton Homes Inc. is benefiting. The company said Monday that its first-quarter earnings jumped 39%. Clayton Homes, the biggest mobile home retailer in the USA, is riding and industrywide rebound that has led to a 17% sales increase over the past eight months. Officials say a dwindling supply of apartments has caused the jump. TRANSAMERICAN WILL BUY LANDFILL: TransAmerican Waste Industries Inc. said Monday that it will buy a solid waste landfill located in Jefferson County in southeastern Ohio. The landfill, located on a 970 acre site about 40 miles from Pittsburgh, accepts municipal solid waste as well as special waste including industrial sludge and contaminated soils. TransAmerican is aggressively pursuing other acquisitions in solid waste management. CHI-CHI'S BUYS FRANCHISES: Chi-Chi's Inc. said it will acquire 22 Chi-Chi's restaurants from a bankrupt company that was its largest franchisee for $12.7 million in cash and debt. Consul Restaurant Corp. previously owned the franchises and they are selling as part of a reorganization plan. The restaurants are in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota. FIXED-RATE MORTGAGES DECLINE: The rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages from the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. were listed at 8.01% Monday, down from Thursday and down from 8.02% the week before. They were at 8.82% a year ago. For 30-year adjustable-rate mortgages, the rates were at 4.97%, down from Thursday and down from rates of 5.02% the week before. A year ago they were at 6.74%. ARM INDEXES UNCHANGED: The 11th District ARM index was listed at 4.874 Monday, unchanged from Thursday and unchanged from the week before. A year ago they were at 6.845%. Rates for the one-year Treasury ARM index were unavailable due to the Columbus Day holiday. They were listed at 3.02% Thursday. Treasury security rates for the 30-year bonds were also unavailable due to the holiday. They listed at 7.44% Thursday. Real Estate Editor: Martin Baucom. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. 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