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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 26, 1993                   TAG: 9305260084
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

HOME SALES START TO BOUNCE BACK

Sales of previously owned homes advanced in April for the first time in four months as buyers took advantage of low mortgage rates and spring weather, a real estate trade group said Tuesday.

Sales of single-family homes were up in every region, according to a survey by the National Association of Realtors. Nationally, they rose 2.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.46 million, from 3.37 million in March.

"We are seeing low mortgage rates working back into the market, and home prices that have experienced only moderate increases are keeping the resale housing market affordable," said Realtors economist John A. Tuccillo.

It was the first increase since sales jumped 4.7 percent in December, to a 4.04 million rate, the highest level since homes sold at a 4.09 million rate in May 1979.

The Realtors predict sales of previously owned homes will total 3.66 million this year, up 3.9 percent from 3.52 million in 1992.

Thirty-year, fixed mortgage rates averaged 7.48 percent in April, lowest in two decades.

At the same time, the median price of a used home edged up 1.8 percent, to $105,400 from $103,500 a year earlier.

In the South, sales rose 1.6 percent, to a 1.27 million rate. The median price crept up to $91,700 from $91,500 a year earlier.

by CNB