From: hamachi@adobe.com (Gordon Hamachi)
Subject: Real Estate News Summary, Part 111
Organization: Adobe Systems Incorporated
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1992 23:22:04 GMT

Real Estate News Summary, Part 111, June - July 1992

862. The insurance fund that backs FHA home mortgages is insolvent, with a net
     worth of minus $2.7 billion at the end of FY 1990, a $5.3 billion drop
     from a year earlier.  But Congress is on the verge of making them greater
     by raising maximum mortgage limits to $151,725 and allowing borrowers to
     roll their closing costs into their loans.  The losses are due to mass
     foreclosures on home loans underwritten in the 1980s.  Since 1988, the
     foreclosure rate has averaged 90,000 a year.  [San Jose Mercury News]

863. Another S&L failure could result in some San Jose homes being sold for
     almost $30K less than the last asking price.  At an auction to unload the
     homes, the opening bid on a 1-bedroom condo will be $68,600.  The last
     asking price was $98K.  [San Jose Mercury News]

864. Kennedy-Wilson will auction 27 luxury single family homes in Patterson,
     California.  Minimum selling prices now from $95K; previous asking prices
     $149.9K to $185.9K [San Francisco Examiner]

865. Kennedy-Wilson will auction 25 condominiums in Modesto, California.
     Minimum selling prices now from $45K to $55K; previous asking prices
     $71.5K to $87K San Francisco Examiner

866. America's homeownership rate has stabilized after falling in the early
     1980s.  The earlier decline was due in part to a large number of younger
     people remaining single.  After increasing in every decade from 1940 to
     1980, the home ownership rate dropped from 65.6% in 1980 to 63.9% in 1989.
     But the study said the drop occurred before 1985 and the rate since has
     remained unchanged. [Associated Press]

867. Forget that in the '80s home equity shot through the roof.  Forget that in
     1978 more homes were purchased in California than ever before--or since.
     These are the hunker-down times.  There are scads of resale homes on the
     market, but there's a growing shortage of brand-new homes.  For those
     secure in their jobs, this is an of opportunity to get into the market.
     There's a lot of pent-up demand in the Bay Area.  When the economy picks
     up, and if interest rates remain low, there will be increased home buying
     activity.  [San Francisco Chronicle]

868. The housing slump has prompted 15% of homeowners to try to sell without a
     broker in an attempt to preserve increasingly slim profits.  Real estate
     brokers say not using an agent limits the marketing audience and sharply
     reduces the chances of selling your house.  [San Francisco Chronicle]

869. The average rate on a 30 year fixed mortgage dropped to 8.13%, the lowest
     since July 1973.  The Mortgage Bankers Association of America said the
     drop should breathe added life into the housing market.  Sales of both new
     and existing homes declined in both April and May after increasing earlier
     in the year.[Associated Press]

870. During past recessions, high inflation bailed out borrowers by eroding the
     real value of their debt.  In this cycle debtors are enjoying no such
     luck.  The current process of reliquification promises to be a drawn-out
     affair.  [Business Week]

871. Even with sunken home prices and low mortgage rates, home buyers think the
     economy's recovery is too unstable to commit to a mortgage.  May new home
     sales fell 5.6% in May, the 4th straight monthly drop.  In Southern
     California's San Fernando and Antelope Valleys, new-home sales sank more
     than 50% in Q2.  May sales fell 34% in the West.  Palos Verdes Developers,
     Inc. slashed prices 30%. [Business Week]
Newsgroups: misc.invest.real-estate