HOME CONSTRUCTION, SALES SHOW GROWTH

Sales of existing homes and construction of new housing are continuing to show increases in the Cape Girardeau area.

"New housing is on the upswing," said Michael Annis of Annis Construction Co. "During the winter we put up some (speculative) houses. They're sold and we're working on five new homes. Sales are alive. It looks like this may be a good summer."

Dave Gerlach of Randol Farms Subdivision and Development agreed.

"We've been through a bad winter," said Gerlach. "But we're seeing a new-house recovery. We have three houses under construction and three more to be under construction in the near future."

A total of 15 permits for new residences were issued in Cape Girardeau during June through mid-July.

"Things started picking up for us in late March and April," said Gerlach.

Only 13 new-house permits were issued the first quarter January, February and March. Things didn't improve the first two months of the second quarter; only four permits were issued in each of the months of April and May. But a total of nine permits were issued in June, and another six during the first two weeks of July.

The average cost of the new homes, based on permit applications, was about $90,000 during the second quarter, but it was boosted by three homes that cost over $140,000 each. At least half of the permits were issued for homes ranging from $45,000 to $60,000.

"We're not seeing a lot of homes in the $70,000-to-$90,000 range," said Annis. "We're seeing requests for homes in the $50,000 to $70,000 range, and then we seem to jump to requests for $120,000-and-over homes."

Realtors Carl Blanchard and Barbara Baker said the same situation exists in the existing-home market.

"We're noticing an increase in home sales over last year," said Blanchard, president of the Cape Girardeau Board of Realtors. "Activity is a lot better this year. It's not great, but it's good, both in Cape Girardeau and Jackson.

"We're seeing some walk-in business," he said. "This signals a good comeback in the residential sector of the real-estate industry.

"Right now we're on the upswing," said Baker, past president of the realtor group. "What we really need now are more homes in the $65,000-to-$85,000 range."

The median price of a home in the Cape Girardeau County area is $56,000 to $58,000. Median price means half of the homes cost more and half less.

Realtors and builders credited the revived interest in houses to what they said are interest rates still being good and favorable economic news.

New-home construction and sales jumped 7.4 percent nationally in June, with increases noted in all parts of the country except the south, said the departments of Commerce and Housing and Urban Development. Sales of single-family homes totaled a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 525,000, up from a revised 489,000 rate in May, they said.

Although new-home sales nationally for the first six months of 1991 are 13.2 percent below those of the same period last year, housing starts have risen each month since January except in March. Housing starts are also down in Cape Girardeau from 1990 totals the first six months of the year.

A total of 82 permits were issued here in 1990, with the lion's share of those permits coming during the January-to-June period.

Meanwhile, sales of existing homes, which struck a low point nationally in January, have advanced each month since then. Most regions of the nation have posted gains throughout the year.

The National Association of Realtors said sales of previously owned single-family homes in June was the highest since January 1989, and was 6.5 percent above that of June 1990.