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

DATE: FRIDAY, March 20, 1992                   TAG: 9203200392
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

AFFORDABILITY GREW IN '91

Housing in America became more affordable as 1991 ended, with some of the best opportunities found in the Midwest, according to a survey released Thursday.

The Elkhart-Goshen area in Indiana jumped from fourth place to the top of the Housing Opportunity Index published quarterly by the National Association of Home Builders. San Francisco was at the bottom. The survey covered 176 metropolitan areas.

Nationally, the survey found households earning the median income were able to afford 37.9 percent of the homes offered for sale during the final quarter of 1991. That was up from 34.8 percent during the same period a year earlier.

"The jump in affordability was due primarily to the combination of falling mortgage interest rates and extremely competitive home prices," said Home Builders president Robert Buchert.

The index reflects the percentage of homes sold during the quarter that could have been bought at prevailing interest rates by a household earning the area's median income - which in Elkhart-Goshen was $40,300, with the median home price $69,000.

\ HOW CITIES RANK IN HOUSING AFFORDABILITY

Roanoke: 59

Norfolk-Virginia Beach: 65

Raleigh-Durham: 89

Charlotte-Gastonia, N.C.-S.C.: 108

Richmond-Petersburg: 44

Washington, D.C.: 125

by CNB