Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.real From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: real Tue, Apr 7 1992 Date: Tue, 7 Apr 92 05:44:02 EDT Message-ID: 04-07 0000 DECISIONLINE: Real Estate USA TODAY Update April 7, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network PROGRAMS COULD BE EXTENDED: Congress likely will consider a second, smaller tax bill later this year that will include extensions of the Mortgage Revenue Bond and low-income housing tax credit programs, predict U.S. Sens. and Finance Committee members John Chafee, R-R.I., and John Danforth, R-Mo. "What we will do is to extend the expiring provisions," says Danforth. (For more, see special MRBs package below.) CALIF. PRODUCTION REBOUNDS: California housing production, as measured in new unit building permits, rebounded in February, according to the California Building Industry Association. Building permits were up 11.7% from January and 13.1% from this time a year ago. Building permit increases occurred in single-family and multifamily sectors. The February rate is the highest for state builders since June 1991. PRODUCTION INCREASE EXPECTED: The Construction Industry Research Board of Burbank, Calif., expects a 14% increase in state housing production this year over 1991, according to Robert Rivinius of the California Building Industry Association. "This CIRB positive forecast follows housing declines of 35% in 1991, which followed a 30% drop in 1990," Rivinius said. FUNDING FOR DISABLED AVAILABLE: The Department of Housing and Urban Development has issued a notice of funding availability for supportive housing for people with disabilities. Applications must be received by June 3 and should be delivered to the HUD field office for the appropriate jurisdiction. The field office can be contacted for information. APARTMENT MARKET SHOULD IMPROVE: Because rental construction has plunged for two years, the opinion is that 1992 will be a better marketplace for apartments, according to real estate analyst Sanford Goodkin. Goodkin predicts that occupancies should improve, effective rents should be firmer and "investors will be hot after them," Goodkin predicts. VA LOANS TO BE OFFERED: The New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency has announced it will begin offering VA loans to increase housing affordability for veterans and military service members, including reservists who served in the gulf war. That will let homebuyers who qualify for VA loans to take advantage of the government's financing with little money down. They can benefit from the NJHMFA's point structure. FIXED-RATE MORTGAGES DECLINE: The rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages from the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. were listed at 8.96% Monday, down from Thursday and down from 8.98% the week before. They were at 9.49% a year ago. For 30-year adjustable-rate mortgages, the rates were 6.22%, up from Thursday and up also from 6.19% the week before. A year ago they were at 7.39%. ARM INDEXES DOWN: The one-year Treasury ARM index rates were listed at 4.50% Monday, down from Thursday and down also from 4.64% the week before. A year ago they were at 6.26%. For the 11th District ARM index, rates were at 5.800%, unchanged from Thursday and down from 6.002% the week before. A year ago they were at 7.848%. T-BONDS DECLINE: Treasury security rates for the 30-year bonds showed a decline Monday, listing at 7.89%. That's down 0.02 from rates of 7.91% Thursday and down 0.05 from 7.94% the week before. A year ago T-bonds were at 8.15%. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON MRBS: PERMANENT EXTENSION URGED: Sen. John Chafee, R-R.I., and Rep. Barbara Kennelly, D-Conn., both say that the Mortgage Revenue Bond and low-income housing tax credit programs should be extended permanently before their scheduled June 30 expiration date, according to the National Council of State Housing Agencies. Chafee and Kennelly spoke recently at the council's legislative conference. PROVISIONS COULD BE EXTENDED: Kennelly says there is a "strong possibility" that the expiring provisions could be extended by Congress near the end of the current session. Chafee, who with Sen. Donald Riegle Jr., D-Mich., is lead sponsor of a bill to make the MRB program permanent, says it is critical that the MRB and tax credit programs "move in tandem" and receive the same treatment. MRBS HELP PROVIDE MORTGAGES: National Council of State Housing Agencies member agencies issue tax-exempt MRBs to provide below-market mortgages to lower-income first-time buyers. They allocate the tax credit to secure investment for the construction and rehabilitation of rental housing for low-income households. (End of package.) Real Estate Editor: Beth Mann. (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