Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 3, 1995 TAG: 9505040029
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
But the market was mixed, with sales rising by double-digit figures in the Midwest and West while falling by double-digit figures in the Northeast and South.
The Commerce Department said Tuesday that sales of new single-family homes totaled a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 577,000, up from a revised 560,000 in February, which was the lowest since 554,000 in May 1992.
February sales had been estimated to have dropped 14 percent, to a 551,000 rate. But analysts had predicted the plunge would be revised upward as more information became available.
The new-home sales report is based on relatively small sample surveys and often is revised.
Despite a 2.1 percent gain in January, sales during the first three months of 1995 still were 15.3 percent below the level of the same period a year ago.
Housing starts, reflecting a big backlog of unsold homes, fell in March for the third straight month. A seasonally adjusted estimate of 349,000 new houses remained for sale in March, the most since 350,000 in July 1990.
But the backlog represented a supply of 7.3 months at the current sales rate, down from 7.5 months in February.
Sales of existing homes, on the other hand, posted the first advance in three months. Analysts said buyers had been lured back into the market by falling mortgage rates.
Thirty-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 8.45 percent in March, down from 9.15 percent in January and the lowest since 8.43 percent last June.
The monthly payment on a $100,000 mortgage with an 8.5 percent rate is $769, while the payment on the same loan with a 9 percent rate is $805, a difference of $36.
Also contributing to a more affordable market was the $130,000 median price of a new home in March, down from $132,300 a year earlier.
by CNB