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

DATE: THURSDAY, September 9, 1993                   TAG: 9309090071
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Los Angeles Daily News
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES                                LENGTH: Medium

MORTGAGE LENDING IN ULTRA HIGH GEAR

Some lenders already had adjusted their rates to reflect the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond, which broke below the 6 percent level Friday. The bond market sets the benchmark for other interest rates, including home mortgages.

Betty Sample, manager of the Roanoke office of NationsBanc Mortgage Corp., said the rate "is the lowest I've seen it" in her 25 years in the business.

NationsBanc on Wednesday quoted a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage at 6 3/4 percent and a 15-year rate at 6] percent. Customers tell her their parents had comparable rates a generation ago.

She estimated about 65 percent of the customers in the mortgage market are buying homes and 35 percent are refinancing.

"We're swamped. . . . We are as busy as we can be," said Jim Chidester, head of the local office of Crestar Mortgage Corp. He said every person in the office is fully booked through early next week.

The mortgage market, he said, is "rate driven." Chidester said Crestar keeps a 50-50 balance between purchases and refinancings.

Michael Hincker, manager of the Roanoke office of Mortgage Service America, said it is "extremely busy," as is the entire mortgage lending industry. "The real estate market is hot," he said.

Analysts said rates could go lower if the economy continues its tepid recovery. The next significant data will be Friday's report measuring wholesale inflation, the producer price index. "A sharper-than-expected rise could send rates up sharply," said Lynn Reaser, chief economist at First Interstate Bancorp in Los Angeles.

Staff writer Mag Poff contributed to this report.