HOUSING MARKET CONTINUES STRONG IN CAPE GIRARDEAU

Sales of pre-owned homes are continuing to make a modest recovery as buyers respond to the lowest mortgage rates since the mid-1970s.

"The housing market is continuing to pick up," said Carl Blanchard owner and broker of Coldwell Banker Blanchard and Associates Realty Inc. "And we're predicting more of the same for 1992."

Blanchard, president of the Cape Girardeau County Association of Realtors, projected a 15 to 20 percent increase in the area housing market.

Barbara Baker of Town and Country Realty, a past president of the realtors association, agreed. "We expect home sales to boom," said Baker. "Everything is right: The low mortgage rates are there and buyers are getting into the market."

The 1991 multilist report shows that the housing market was good in 1991 despite a slow start.

"More than $37.8 million in sales were recorded in Cape Girardeau, Jackson and Scott City," said Blanchard. "Of that, $28 million was in Cape Girardeau and more than $8 million was in Jackson."

Blanchard said the average price per home was $63,900 in Cape Girardeau and $68,794 in Jackson.

The $37.8 million sales figure for 1991 is up just over 13 percent, or about $5 million, from totals of 1990, when multilist sales totaled $32.8 million.

Nationally, home sales were down for the year about three-tenths of a percent. For the year as a whole, sales totaled 3.2 million units, but things started picking up late in the year, according to National Association of Realtors President Doreas T. Helfant. December sales show a 6.7 increase over the December figures of a year ago.

"We've had good home sales this year," Blanchard said of his firm's sales in Cape County. "We wound up with good figures in December, and thus far sales for 1992 have been more of the same.

"I've talked with several realtors recently," said Blanchard. "Most reported increases in 1991 business over totals of 1990.

"Our firm ended the year with $2 million more in sales than in 1990," said Blanchard. "That's despite a couple of bad months early in the year."

Blanchard said the Persian Gulf War hurt business early in the year. "That followed on the heels of the December 1990 earthquake scare," he said.

Blanchard said he 1991 increase started in March, and continued into December.

"November and December were very strong months," he said. "And January of this year was strong; our sales for January of 1992 were almost 10 times better than sales of January 1991."

Blanchard and Baker credited attractive financial rates for much of the increase.

"Actually, rates haven't been prohibitive throughout the entire year," said Blanchard. "But they've been especially great during the last quarter."

The rates ranged from a low of 5.25 for a one-year adjustable to 7.7 for a 15-year fixed, to 8.25 for a 30-year fixed mortgage.

Blanchard said most areas in the country experienced declining sales.

"But the Midwest experienced an increase in December sales over a year ago," he said. For the year, the Midwest area had sales of about 1.1 percent over those of 1990.

"Right now we need homes," said Blanchard. "We have more buyers than homes, but that's not unusual at this time of year. Most sellers wait until early spring or summer to put their homes on the market. But with the favorable weather we've experienced this winter, a lot of people are looking at properties now."

Baker said that 1991 totals for her company were up from 1990.

"More than 60 percent of our business came during the last half of the year in 1991," said Baker. "Our January sales for 1992 were up, and we're expecting good sales to continue this year."