From: hamachi@adobe.com (Gordon Hamachi)
Newsgroups: misc.invest.real-estate
Subject: Real Estate News Summary, Part 114
Date: 26 Aug 92 20:39:39 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Adobe Systems Incorporated

Real Estate News Summary, Part 114, July 1992

888. Baby Boomers whose consumerism powered the economy of the '70s and '80s
     are saving for their retirements and are no longer buying the houses, cars
     and appliances that supported hundreds of thousands of small businesses.
     Without a boost from small business, the economy may be doomed to steady
     but slow growth for 20 years.  [Chicago Tribune]

889. Tahoe real estate agents say that despite a steady annual appreciation of
     6-10%, home prices there are still a steal.  Unlike the Bay Area, where
     prices skyrocketed in the late '80s and then declined, Tahoe real estate
     has recovered from its '80s slump.  Prices continue to climb because of
     the region's popularity as a year-round resort, but also because since
     1986 the local planning agency has issued only 300 new residential permits
     a year for the entire lake area.  [San Jose Mercury News]

890. Some Bay Area apartment owners are worried that the RTC may have started
     to dump distressed property on the local market.  Dumping is the practice
     of massive selling of a product at prices significantly below the
     competition.  [San Francisco Examiner]

891. In the latest Home Values survey for Alameda County, 21 of 46 homes
     declined in value.  Another 16 increased in value, while 9 had no change.
     Prices for homes fell in most categories in Hayward, San Leandro, San
     Lorenzo and Newark.  The value of a 3-bedroom home in Piedmont rose 5.4%
     to $525,000.  [San Francisco Examiner]

892. The Bay Area's first auction by the Resolution Trust Corp. sold off 15
     homes acquired from failed savings and loans. It was Northern California's
     first, although 4 have been held in other parts of California and about
     150 others have been held elsewhere in the nation.  One house last listed
     at $437,850 was sold for $285,000.  Another home last listed at $379,000
     sold for $342,500.  One new owner paid $325,000 for a San Francisco
     triplex appraised at $465,000; she said it was probably a $700,000
     property 3 or 4 years ago.  [San Francisco Chronicle]

893. There are signs that New England's economy is stabilizing.  Real estate,
     computers and banking, which all rose in lock-step through the mid-80s,
     all fell starting in early 1989.  The region lost 10.5% of its jobs.  But
     last fall continuing declines in certain sectors were finally offset by
     gains others.  Housing construction permits for the first 5 months of 1992
     rose 29% from the year-earlier period, though they are still only a third
     of the level in 1986.  Meanwhile, June existing home sales are as much as
     30% higher than a year ago.  [Wall Street Journal]

894. Existing single-family home sales were down 14.5% from May and 17.7% from
     June 1991.  The statewide median price of an existing home was down 1.5%
     from May, and 3.0% from June 1991.  The San Jose area reversed a 2-month
     slide in June, but the median price of a home dropped $7,500 from May.
     June sales were up 3.7% over may, and up 2.1% from June 1991, according to
     the San Jose Real Estate Board.  [San Jose Mercury News]

895. Bay Area home sales declined 9.9% in June, for the 3rd consecutive month.
     Yet home prices rose 0.3% in June compared with May.  Sales of existing
     homes in California dropped 14.5% from May and were down 17.7% from June
     of last year.  The statewide decline occurred despite the lowest mortgage
     rates in 19 years.  Realtors expect lower interest rates to have an effect
     eventually.  [San Francisco Chronicle]
Newsgroups: misc.invest.real-estate