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 Fri, May 1 1992 Date: Fri, 1 May 92 05:15:09 EDT Message-ID: 05-01 0000 DECISIONLINE: Real Estate USA TODAY Update May 1-3, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network BROKERS TURN TO INCENTIVES: Would-be homebuyers may just be able to get such extras as a free trip or gold coins just for looking. Real-estate agents these days need buyers more than anything else. The industry has all the other ingredients for a terrific season: Plenty of houses on the market, mortgage rates below 9% and an economy that's growing stronger every day. (For more, see special Extras package below.) HOME AFFORDABILITY DROPS: Homes were slightly less affordable for the second straight month in March, according to the National Association of Realtors. The NAR's housing affordibility index fell to 120.8 last month from 122 in February. March was the fifth straight month the index was above 120. The index means a family earning the median income had 120.8% of the income needed to qualify for a conventional mortgage. N.Y. RATES MAY HAVE BOTTOMED: Manhattan may have bottomed. Quarterly survey Halstead's New York, by Halstead Property, says prices paid for Manhattan condos and co-ops in the first three months of this year took the biggest quarterly jump since the summer of 1987. In the first quarter the average price-per-room for a Manhattan home rose to $88,863 from $82,606 in the fourth quarter of 1991. APPRAISERS GROUP FILES SUIT: The National Association of Real Estate Appraisers has filed a lawsuit against Appraisal Foundation challenging their copyright of the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practices. NAREA Managing Director E. Kenneth Twichell said the standards belong to the appraisal industry and "not to any Foundation." He says the foundation receives federal funding to distribute the standards. WRITE TO APPRAISAL FOUNDATION: The National Association of Real Estate Appraisers says appraisers must have free access to uniform industry standards. NAREA's Kenneth Twichell urges those in the industry to write to Appraisal Foundation, 1029 Vermont Ave. NW, Suite 900, Washington, D.C. 20005 urging free public access to the standards and to send a copy to NAREA at 8383 East Evans Road, Scottsdale, Ariz. 85260. JAPAN'S HOUSING STARTS FALL: Overall housing starts in Japan fell 19.4% to 1.23 million units in the fiscal year to the end of March, reflecting property market instability and the intense financial pressure on property companies and their bankers. Leading developers report that their stock of unsold properties while Tokyo condominium sales in March rose 19.5% compared to the same month last year. FIXED-RATE MORTGAGES STABLE: The rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages from the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. were listed at 8.85% Thursday, unchanged from Wednesday and up from 8.76% the week before. They were at 9.53% a year ago. For 30-year adjustable-rate mortgages, the rates were 6.13%, unchanged from Wednesday and up from 6.11% the week before. A year ago they were at 7.36%. ARM INDEXES UNMOVED: The one-year Treasury ARM index rates were listed at 4.32% Thursday, unchanged from Wednesday and up from 4.14% the week before. A year ago they were at 6.25%. For the 11th District ARM index, rates were at 5.800%, unchanged from Wednesday and unchanged also from the week before. A year ago they were at 7.654%. T-BONDS DECLINE: Treasury security rates for the 30-year bonds showed a decline Thursday, listing at 8.03%. That's down 0.03 from rates of 8.06% Wednesday and down 0.01 from rates of 8.04% the week before. A year ago T-bonds were at 8.12%. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON EXTRAS: WIN A TRIP TO MEXICO: Attention, homeowner wannabes: Now is the time. Real-estate agents with everything else in place for a great selling season are turning to such goodies as free trips for looking at homes. Coldwell Banker's 70 offices in Washington and northern California are giving away five trips to Cabo San Lucas on Mexico's Baja peninsula. Register at open houses or by mail for a drawing. COINS GIVEN AWAY: Century 21's 115 California offices in the five-county region from San Luis Obispo to Bakersfield are giving away American Eagle gold coins to those registering for a drawing the weekend of June 6-7. New West Financial Services is offering in rebate from some of the referral fees brokers get. When clients move away, a broker often gets a fee for referring them to a broker in another city. CALIFORNIA LAGS BEHIND: It's not surprising that so many of the promotions are coming from California, where home sales could use some help. California's existing-home sales in March slipped 2.4% on a seasonally adjusted basis from the month before, putting that state far behind what's starting to look like a good spring for real estate elsewhere. (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