Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.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 Wed, Oct 28 1992 Date: Wed, 28 Oct 92 04:40:26 EST Message-ID: 10-28 0000 DECISIONLINE: Real Estate USA TODAY Update Oct. 28, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network BLACKS ARE REJECTED MORE OFTEN: Blacks continue to be turned down for mortgage loans more than twice as often as whites, the government said Tuesday. Last year, lenders rejected 37.6% of conventional mortgage applications from blacks, vs. the 17.3% rejection rate for whites. The government got the numbers from loan files of 9,358 banks, thrifts, credit unions and mortgage companies under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act. (For more, see special Rejection package below.) BILL IS ON BUSH'S DESK: President Bush has until Friday to sign a bill that would designate public housing buildings for the elderly only. If Bush doesn't sign the bill, it won't become law. The purpose of the legislation is to provide separate living facilities for the elderly and mentally ill, two groups that have been placed together in housing for several years. CREDITORS WANT CASE THROWN OUT: Two more creditors of Olympia & York Developments Ltd., the bankrupt Canadian real estate giant, supported a motion to have O&Y's bankruptcy case thrown out of U.S. court. Bank of Montreal and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce echoed the earlier call for dismissal from Prudential Insurance Co. of America. Prudential claimed the U.S. case merely mirrored Canadian proceedings. O&Y CREDITORS MAY SUPPORT PLAN: Bank of Montreal and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, two creditors of Olympia & York Developments Ltd., left open the possibility they would withdraw their objections to O&Y's bankruptcy court proceedings. The two creditors may support the U.S. court reorganization plan if they approve of it. Other creditors defended O&Y's pursuit of bankruptcy protection. FIRST BOSTON SELECTED: The First Boston Corp. has been selected as consultant to the Federal Housing Finance Board to advise it on System 2000, the long-term strategic plan for the Federal Home Loan Bank System. The System will be the blueprint for future housing finance strategies. Throughout the process, the System will be guided by extensive input from Bank System shareholders. RESIDENTS VOTE FOR INCREASE: Residents in Waverly, Mich., voted to increase property taxes in order to reopen Ingham County schools. Students returned to school Tuesday. The owner of a house worth $80,000 would pay about $80 more than 1991's $1,018 in school property taxes. Property taxes in the upper Midwest are among the highest real estate taxes in the nation. FIXED-RATE MORTGAGES STABLE: The rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages from the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. were listed at 8.23% Tuesday, unchanged from Monday and up from 8.01% the week before. They were at 8.91% a year ago. For 30-year adjustable-rate mortgages, the rates were 5.13%, unchanged from Monday and up from 4.97% the week before. A year ago they were at 6.66%. ARM INDEXES STABLE: The one-year Treasury ARM index rates were listed at 3.48% Tuesday, unchanged from Monday and up from 3.26% the week before. A year ago they were at 5.39%. For the 11th District ARM index, rates were at 4.874%, unchanged from Monday 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 decline Tueaday, listing at 7.61%. That's down 0.06 from rates of 7.67% Monday. Rates were down 0.03 from rates of 7.64% the week before. A year ago they were at 7.89%. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON REJECTION: DISPARITY HASN'T CHANGED: Mortgage rejection figures from 1991 showed little change from 1990 when black applicants were turned down 2.4 times as often as whites. The 1990 numbers came out a year ago, the first time detailed statistics on racial disparities in lending were ever made public. The original numbers caused an uproar last year. Lenders argued then that the wide disparity didn't prove discrimination. CREDIT DOESN'T CHANGE RATES: The statistics didn't include the credit histories of the applicants. But a recent Federal Reserve Bank of Boston says blacks are far more likely to be turned down - even if credit records are taken into account. Bankers say they're improving, pledging to make millions of dollars in loans in poor and minority neighborhoods and training loan officers to do a better job. ACTIVISTS ARE NOT SATISFIED: But activists aren't satisfied. Maude Hurd of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now says federal regulators' role as "management consultants to the industry" is to blame. Regulators have given 89% of banks passing grades for their poor and minority lending commitments. David Jeffers of the Federal National Mortgage Association urges significant changes next year. (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