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

DATE: THURSDAY, May 6, 1993                   TAG: 9305060118
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

HOME PRICES UP, BUT NOT EVERYWHERE

Home values fell in one-third of the nation's housing markets surveyed during the past 12 months, and increases slowed in many others, the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday.

Homeowners in the West, particularly in California, and the Northeast were hit the hardest in the first quarter of this year compared to the 1992 period. The survey covered previously owned, single-family homes in 129 metropolitan areas.

The Realtors said home values fell 0.5 percent in the West, to a median price of $142,200, and were unchanged in the Northeast at $137,400. Homeowners in the Midwest, on the other hand, saw their property values jump 7.8 percent, to a median of $83,900.

"The Midwest has a good combination of economic stability and low-cost housing," Realtors economist John A. Tuccillo said.

Prices rose 2.7 percent in the South, to $90,7000, but the pace was off the 4.3 percent advance posted in the fourth quarter.

Nationally, prices rose 5.1 percent to $104,200, compared to a 4.3 percent advance in the October-December quarter. But 46 of the 129 areas surveyed posted declines.

The Richland-Kennewick-Pasco market of Washington state led the nation in house appreciation for the second straight quarter. Prices jumped 24.5 percent, to $96,400, after a 26.1 percent rise in October-December.

Only five other markets had double-digit percentage increases, compared to 18 in the 1992 quarter: Detroit, up 19 percent; Syracuse, N.Y., up 11.2 percent; Spokane, Wash., up 10.9 percent; and Fort Myers-Cape Coral, Fla., and Charleston, W.Va., both up 10.2 percent. But homeowners in Toledo, Ohio, saw their property values plunge 11.2 percent, to $65,700. Springfield, Mass., prices fell 9.1 percent to $106,300; and Philadelphia's were down 9 percent to $108,900.

The Realtors said the cold, wet winter helped hold home sales to a 3.4 percent gain, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.92 million units. That was considerably below the 18.3 percent surge recorded during the same quarter last year.

"We are seeing more and more people buying starter homes," and that is triggering move-up sales, said William S. Chee, the Realtors president.

by CNB