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

DATE: SATURDAY, June 26, 1993                   TAG: 9306260069
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

EXISTING-HOME SALES UP FOR 2ND MONTH

Sales of previously owned homes rose in May for the second straight month, and a real estate trade group said the 4.6 percent surge suggested an active season for the housing industry.

Each of the nation's four regions contributed to the gain.

"Buyers are out," said President William S. Chee of the National Association of Realtors. "People are showing up at open houses, ready to negotiate."

That suggests an active summer, when families traditionally try to get settled in new homes before school starts, he predicted.

The National Association of Realtors said sales of existing single-family homes totaled a seasonally adjusted rate of 3.61 million in May, up from 3.45 million a month earlier.

The revised 2.4 percent advance in April followed three months of declines which analysts attributed to adverse winter weather. The April increase originally had been estimated to be 2.7 percent.

New home sales shot up 22.7 percent in April, the government reported earlier. That was the largest increase since September 1986 and boosted sales to the highest level since December 1986. May sales will be reported next Tuesday.

The Realtors attributed the sales activity to relatively stable prices and the lowest mortgage rates in two decades.

The median price of a previously owned home was $106,100 in May, up just 0.3 percent from April and 2.9 percent from a year ago. The median means half of the homes cost more and half cost less.

by CNB