HOME AFFORDABILITY IMPROVES IN SOUTHEAST

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, February 16, 1992                   TAG: 9202170274
SECTION: HOMES                    PAGE: B-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ATLANTA                                LENGTH: Short
HOME AFFORDABILITY IMPROVES IN SOUTHEAST
Home ownership remains out of reach for the poor who live in the South's larger cities, a study shows.
Declining mortgage rates have made it easier for poor people in the Southeast to afford a home in the region's small- and medium-size cities, but not in the larger metropolitan areas, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta said in a study released Friday.
"Larger urban areas, including Atlanta, Birmingham, Norfolk and Washington, tend to be less affordable," said Richard Fritz, the bank's senior economist.
The Federal Home Loan Bank helps provide credit to low-income people.
The study focused on the lower end of the real estate market.
Fritz said the bank looked at various factors in assessing the cities. But he said lower mortgage rates, brought about since the Federal Reserve Board began dropping lending rates last year, have contributed to improved affordability.
The bank defined low-income families in the study as those earning 80 percent or less of each area's median household income. Each area was rated on a system in which an index lower than 100 meant homes available to low-income people would cost more than they could afford.
Those receiving the best ratings included Mobile, Ala., 127; Columbia, S.C., 123; Pensacola, Fla., 122; and Daytona Beach, Fla., 120.
Cities receiving the lowest ratings included Greensboro, N.C., 82; Atlanta, 83; Augusta, Ga., 86; Raleigh, N.C., 90 and Norfolk, Va., 92.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB