CAPE GIRARDEAU-JACKSON BOOM IN REAL ESTATE CONTINUES IN '94

*Agents in the two cities sold $1.11 million worth of farms last year, with the average price $77,990.

At the beginning of 1995, the area real estate market continues to boom despite rising interest rates, and home prices in Jackson have now surpassed those in Cape Girardeau.

Cape Girardeau had a volume of $35.35 million in sales in 1994, counting only those transactions involving real estate companies. The average sale price of a Cape Girardeau residence was $81,030.

Residential real estate prices in the city climbed nearly 9 percent during the past year, the largest increase veteran agents can recall.

The volume in Jackson in 1994 was about half Cape Girardeau's, at $18.1 million, but the average sale price was even higher than in Cape Girardeau -- $81,777. That's a startling figure to real estate agents who long have watched Jackson housing prices lag behind Cape Girardeau's.

"It shows the volume that has been done in Jackson," said Realtor Doris Jean Arnold. "It's supply and demand. We used to see very few listings in Jackson."

G. Allen Hill, a real estate appraiser in Jackson, said the boom in Jackson is because "demand has caught up to the supply. We can't keep them built fast enough."

The city has a fast-growing industrial base -- Lee-Rowan is now the county's largest employer. Also attractive to buyers are its small-town atmosphere and a school system perceived to have the public's full support.

All this resulted in a record number of building permits filed last year in Jackson.

Subdivisions are burgeoning in both Jackson and Cape Girardeau. Rodney Bollinger, a contract administrator in the Department of Public Works in Jackson, said more than 20 subdivisions are on the city's current list. "If it's not a record year it's up there," Bollinger said.

In Cape Girardeau, 30 subdivisions were listed with the city's Department of Planning and Zoning in 1994. The subdivisions consist of nearly 200 mostly residential lots. The largest of these are the 45-lot Lexington Place Subdivision and the 38-lot Northfield Subdivision in the area of Greenbrier Drive.

Jackson City Manager Steve Wilson said nobody could have predicted the growth Jackson has undergone in the past several years.

The city's current population is 11,000. "I don't think we're going to sustain the growth we've had over the last months," Wilson said, "but it's realistic to think 15,000 is around the corner and 20,000 is pretty short-term."

Wilson said the city is "keeping up with demand partly...It takes a little longer to get the infrastructure there."

Arnold's company, Century 21 Ashland, represents the Annwood Subdivision between Cape Girardeau and Jackson on Highway 61. The subdivision opened with 62 lots in mid-August, and almost three-fourths of them have been sold, Arnold said.

Prices range from $99,000 to $180,000.

"It's the hottest subdivision because of the easy access between the two communities," she said.

Arnold also views the South Lorimier Street area of Cape Girardeau as a hot-selling area, despite past problems with crime. "You're going to see a definite appreciation of values with the riverboat coming in," she said. "People are begging for investment property.

"You have bed and breakfasts and doctors. People are moving into the area."

The total volume of commercial real estate transactions in the two cities in 1994 was $3.3 million, with an average sale price of $97,626.

Arnold said farms also were hot properties during 1994. "Everyone wants a little piece of land," Arnold said. "That's a status symbol now."

Agents sold $1.11 million worth of farms last year, with the average price $77,990.

"We see very few come on the market that aren't sold immediately," she said.

Arnold expects the hard-charging real estate market to continue despite recent boosts in interest rates. "The whole heartland market is at a boom," she said.