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 28 1992 Date: Thu, 28 May 92 05:21:26 EDT Message-ID: 05-28 0000 DECISIONLINE: Real Estate USA TODAY Update May 28, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network N.Y. PROPOSES CONTRACTOR FUND: The Consumer Protection Board of New York Wednesday proposed a bill that would require all home-improvement contractors to register with the state, allowing consumers to see which businesses are state-recognized. The bill also would require contractors to pay a one-time fee of $100 and a fee of $75 every two years. The money would be placed in a fund to reimburse defrauded consumers. TRAIN SERVICE OPPOSED: Ranchers and farmers in east Texas are opposing plans to bring 200-mph bullet train service to the state by the decade's end. Landowners, fearing that the $6 billion project will cut across their properties, have vowed to fill a public hearing Thursday. The project will hurt land sales and raise noise and dust pollution, owners say. The route links Houston, Dallas and San Antonio. O&Y TO SEEK FURTHER PROTECTION: Oylmpia & York, one of the world's largest real-estate developers, is expected to place Canary Wharf, a London development, in bankruptcy protection Thursday, the Financial Times reports. Olympia & York is currently trying to restructure its $12.2 billion debt. VALUE OF PLAZA HAS FALLEN: Developer Donald Trump's bankers and lenders have taken a 49% stake in the Plaza Hotel on New York's Fifth Avenue, according to the June issue of Frequent Flyer magazine. The banks now say the property is worth $260 million. When Trump bought the hotel in 1988, he paid $409 million and said he would never sell it. MINNESOTA MORTGAGES RISE: Although the median household income in Minnesota rose 3.8% during the 1980s, median monthly mortgages rose 21.5%, to $724 in 1990 from $596 in 1980, according to newly released Census Bureau data. The figures also show that rents rose 12.8%, from $374 in 1980 to $422 in 1990, and that 69.8% of Minnesotans live in or near cities. BIOTECH CONSTRUCTION EXPECTED: Biotechnology and bioscience companies and institutions in Northern California plan to spend more than $1.66 billion on construction, expansion and renovation projects in the next five years, says a report released Wednesday by the Bay Area Bioscience Center. The report also said that rental spending by the industry should rise 38% in the next five years to $226 million. ST. LOUIS AUCTION ANNOUNCED: The J.P. King Auction Co. announced Wednesday that it will hold a two-day auction of residential and commercial properties on in St. Louis on Sunday, June 7, and Monday, June 8. The total appraised value of the properties is estimated between $12 million and $13 million, according to David Bryant, marketing consultant. The auction will be held in St. Louis' Adams Mark Hotel. IVY TECH TO PROPOSE PROJECTS: At a June meeting of its board of trustees, Indiana Vocational and Technical College officials plan to propose that the Indiana General Assembly fund nearly $100 million in improvement projects. Included in the proposal would be a new classroom facility on U.S. 52 to close the Tippecanoe Building downtown and consolidate vocational college operations in Lafayette. NCR TO HOLD GROUNDBREAKING: Gil Williamson, CEO of NCR Corp., and Bob Allen, CEO of AT&T, will attend groundbreaking ceremonies Friday for a new $30 million facility in San Diego. The 440,000-square-foot facility, capable of holding 1,4000 employees, will house research and development for NCR. FIXED-RATE MORTGAGES STABLE: The rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages from the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. were listed at 8.53% Wednesday, unchanged from Tuesday, but down from 8.64% from the week before. They were at 9.47% a year ago. For 30-year adjustable-rate mortgages, the rates were 5.93%, unchanged from Tuesday and down from 5.97% the week before. A year ago they were at 7.22%. ARM INDEXES UNCHANGED: The one-year Treasury ARM index rates were listed at 4.12% Wednesday, unchanged from Tuesday and unchanged from the week before. A year ago they were at 6.15%. For the 11th District ARM index, rates were at 5.611%, unchanged from Tuesday and unchanged 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 7.90%. That's down 0.1 from rates of 7.91% Tuesday and up 0.10 from 7.80% the week before. A year ago T-bonds were at 8.28%. Real Estate Editor: Christopher Goldthwaite. (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