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

DATE: FRIDAY, July 23, 1993                   TAG: 9307230101
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

MOST-AFFORDABLE HOMES WHERE ELSE? IN MIDWEST

The Midwest held its position as the region with the nation's most affordable housing last winter, the National Association of Home Builders reported Thursday.

Eighteen of the 25 most affordable markets were in the Midwest from January through March, according to the association's survey of 278,822 sales of new and existing homes in 202 markets.

The South remained the second-most-affordable region, although it had only two markets in the top 25, the survey found.

Lima, Ohio, was the most-affordable market. San Francisco remained the least-affordable area - a distinction it has held since the association began its quarterly surveys in the first quarter of 1991.

The association uses a Housing Opportunity Index to measure the ability of a typical family to buy a home in its own market by comparing median family income with median home price.

The association said the national median home price in the January-March quarter was $105,000. National median income rose to $39,700 from $36,800 in the fourth quarter of 1992.

That meant households earning the median income could afford 64.7 percent of the homes offered for sale, up from 60 percent in the final three months of last year.

"The reason . . . is lower interest rates," said association President J. Roger Glunt.

by CNB