LIVING LARGE: HOUSING MARKET FUTURE UP IN THE AIR

People with an eye for architecture can tell by driving around Cape Girardeau that the past 10 years have seen a significant amount of new residential building.

The recent slowdown in the national economy, however, has left the city's housing market with an uncertain tomorrow. Views on the future of the market vary, depending on the local real-estate agent you speak to.

Debra Martin, an agent with Prudential, expects the market to retain the health it experienced in the past six years.

The slowdown in the economy could actually invigorate the residential market as homeowners are encouraged by the potential cost-savings of financing homes under lower interest rates, Martin said.

"We're finding that things are going along pretty well," she said. "We've sold all along through this winter, what has been traditionally a slow time. There's a lot of homes on the market now, there's no doubt about that. I think it was a little healthier four or five years ago, but it's still holding its own now."

Wade Cardwell, a residential agent with ReMax Realty One, was less optimistic.

He said that houses $120,000 and less were moving OK because that's what most people can afford, but once you get to $150,000 and more, you see the market slow down a lot.

In the $180,000 to $250,000 price range, there are more homes on the local market than sold in all of last year, he said. So people who bought homes in Cape three years ago may be surprised at the devaluation in their investment at today's prices.

"I had a closing the other day on a house that was $212,000 and I had to provide the seller with statistical data showing that it was a fair price because he wanted $230,000," Cardwell said.

He thinks the local market is insulated to some degree from the national economic downturn.

"It will not affect us as much here as it will in other parts of the country because we have the Procter & Gamble and (Nordenia USA Inc.) jobs," the agent said, adding that because of the farming and industrial base, the area has not turned into a service economy around, which could be a disaster for the home market.

Subdivision facts Year Number of subdivision built in Cape Girardeau

1990 11

1991 16

1992 15

1993 18

1994 30

1995 25

1996 11

1997 12

1998 11

1999 23

2000 12

Total: 184