THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 10, 1996 TAG: 9602080277
SECTION: REAL ESTATE WEEKLY PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JOHN D. McCLAIN, ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
Existing home prices rose in every region except the Northeast last year as falling mortgage rates boosted consumer demand, a real estate trade group reported Wednesday.
But although the Midwest, South and West posted strong gains during the final three months of 1995, compared with a year earlier, prices in the Northeast slipped 0.7 percent, the National Association of Realtors said.
The median price of a home nationally was $113,800 in the fourth quarter, up 5 percent from $108,400 during the October-December period of 1994. The median is the midpoint, meaning half of the homes cost more and half cost less.
Prices ranged from $352,000 in Honolulu to $54,500 in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
In the Midwest, the median price of a home shot up 8.4 percent, to $95,200, including an 18.3 percent jump in South Bend, Ind., to $72,900.
Prices rose 5.1 percent in the South, to $99,100, and 3.1 percent in the West, to $148,400, while slipping to $134,100 in the Northeast.
In all, the Realtors said, 65 of the 134 metropolitan statistical areas surveyed had price increases either equalling or exceeding the national percentage. The survey included single-family detached and attached existing homes.
Following South Bend with the largest appreciation were in Salt Lake City, where the median price jumped 16.6 percent, to $119,200, and Corpus Christi, Tex., where it rose 15.3 percent, to $86,600.
Pushing prices up were sales that totaled 4.47 million units at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, up 6.9 percent from 4.18 million during the final three months of 1994 but off 1.5 percent from the 4.54 million rate from July through September.
Sales rose in the District of Columbia and in 39 of the 46 states surveyed. Sixteen states registered double-digit gains. Figures were not available from Alaska, Georgia, Maine and New Hampshire.
The sales survey covered existing single-family detached homes, town houses, condominiums and co-operatives.
``Overall, home buying conditions have been excellent,'' said Realtors President Art Godi. ``Low rates are keeping buyers in the market.''
The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. said fixed-rate, 30-year mortgages were 7.3 percent during the fourth quarter, compared with 9.1 percent a year earlier.
The monthly payment on a $100,000 mortgage with a 7.5 percent interest rate is $699, while the payment on the same loan with a 9 percent rate is $805 - a difference of $106.
In addition to South Bend, areas with the biggest price increases in the Midwest were Saginaw, Mich., up 15.1 percent to $65,600; Detroit, up 14.6 percent to $99,700; and Topeka, Kan., up 14 percent to $70,000.
Strong markets in the South, besides Corpus Christi, were Chattanooga, Tenn., where prices rose 12.4 percent to $87,300; Birmingham, Ala., up 12.3 percent to $112,400, and Nashville, up 12.2 percent to $116,000.
Other than Salt Lake City, the West was paced by Eugene, Ore., where the median price shot up 11.4 percent to $107,700; Colorado Springs, Colo., up 9.4 percent to $115,400; Portland, Ore., up 9.3 percent to $131,200; and Denver, up 8 percent to $128,500.
Although overall prices slipped in the Northeast, Pittsburgh, Pa., managed to record a 5.5 percent gain to $81,000. by CNB