Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.real From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: real Thu, May 14 1992 Date: Thu, 14 May 92 05:42:12 EDT Message-ID: 05-14 0000 DECISIONLINE: Real Estate USA TODAY Update May 14, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network HOUSING COSTS INCH UP: Consumer prices rose just 0.2% in April, the Labor Department said Wednesday. Housing costs inched up just .01% in April. Energy prices were up 0.4% after a jump of 0.6% in March. So far this year, consumer prices are rising at an annual rate of 3.3%, just up from a 3.1% annual increase last year. That rate was the best in five years. `NO QUICK FIX' FOR MALLS: The International Council of Shopping Centers was told at a convention in Las Vegas Wednesday a new partnership is needed to revitalize the industry. Past ICSC president Jeremiah W. O'Connor said a partnership among the developer, retailer, manufacturer and financier a partnership is needed for the industry. O'Connor said that "there is no quick fix out there." (For more, see special Shopping package below.) O&Y WANTS EXTRA FUNDS PROVIDED: It was reported Wednesday that developer Olympia & York wants lenders to provide extra funds for Canadian operations before it pays $14 million in overdue interest on a series of publicly traded bonds secured by a Toronto office building. Also Wednesday, it was discovered that bankers in a loan syndicate led by J.P. Morgan have decided to foreclose on a loan of $160 million made last year. REBUILDING FUNDS ANNOUNCED: The Federal Housing Finance Board Wednesday announced that the Federal Home Loan Bank System will make available $600 million in community rebuilding funds for South Central Los Angeles and other areas affected by the rioting. The bank system is committed to housing finance. The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco will serve as lead bank for the 12 district banks in the system. SUBSIDIZED LOANS AVAILABLE: The Federal Home Loan Bank System's Affordable Housing Program is providing subsidized loans to further assist low- and moderate-income families in Los Angeles. The finance board said Wednesday it will expedite processing of new AHP applications for Los Angeles. There are pending 12 AHP project applications that could provide $3 million of subsidy. FANNIE MAE, COUNTRYWIDE TEAM UP: Countrywide Funding Corp. and Fannie Mae Wednesday announced a $1.25 billion agreement to provide financing for low- and moderate-income and minority home buyers that will include a second review of applicants rejected at the retail level. The program's goal is to increase lending activity to those buyers. The program will pilot in 20 Countywide branches and be expanded to all 103. FIXED-RATE MORTGAGES STABLE: The rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages from the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. were listed at 8.75% Wednesday, unchanged from Tuesday and down from 8.84% the week before. They were at 9.47% a year ago. For 30-year adjustable-rate mortgages, the rates were 6.02%, unchanged from Tuesday but down from 6.10% the week before. A year ago they were at 7.23%. ARM INDEXES UNCHANGED: The one-year Treasury ARM index rates were listed at 4.25% Wednesday, unchanged from Tuesday but down from 4.34% the week before. A year ago they were at 6.13%. For the 11th District ARM index, rates were at 6.511%, unchanged from Tuesday 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 Wednesday, listing at 7.84%. That's down 0.02% from rates of 7.86% Monday and down 0.12 from rates of 7.96% the week before. A year ago T-bonds were at 8.33%. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON SHOPPING: MARKET HURTS MALL INDUSTRY: The real estate market and lack of financing from banks and insurance companies are major factors hurting the shopping-center industry, expert Jeremiah O'Connor said Wednesday. He said real estate "is a toxic waste dump" and likely to remain so. "Restrictions being imposed by banks and insurance companies" are great enough to "put many of use out of business," he said. `NEVER ANOTHER EIGHTIES': O'Connor's company develops, acquires and manages large shopping centers and other properties, and now has a $2.5 billion portfolio with holdings in 21 regional shopping centers. Anthony Downs, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute in Washington, D.C., noted, "There will never be another surge of capital in real estate investment as in the 1980s, at least not in our lifetime." DEVELOPMENT WILL BE DEPRESSED: Downs predicts that "new center development will be depressed, at least in the first half of the '90s and probably well into the last half." Therefore, he said, "the big development of the 1990s" will be refurbishing and expanding of existing centers. He was optimistic about shopping centers' future. "Malls will hold out for a long time," he said. (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