Higher Mortgage Rates Blamed For Decline In Real Estate Lending

Real estate lending in Washington declined during the first quarter of 1995 due to last year’s rising interest rates and the dropoff in refinance activity, a real estate information service reported.

Dollar volume for the January-toMarch period totaled $3.72 billion. That’s down 22.7 percent from the fourth quarter of last year and down 53.3 percent from the first quarter of 1994, according to Dataquick Information Systems.

A decline from fourth to first quarter is normal for the season. Lending volume is expected to rise during the next few months because of lower interest rates and an expected seasonal pickup in home sales.

“Lending activity a year ago was high because of the refinance activity. Over 50 percent of all real estate loans in Washington were refinances a year ago; now they account for around 22 percent,” said Donald L. Cohn, Dataquick CEO.

Dataquick monitors real estate activity nationwide. The company, which has an office in Bellevue, provides information to consumers, lending institutions, title companies and industry analysts. The numbers include all loans, commercial as well as residential.

Lenders made 10,862 loans to Washington home buyers during the first three months of the year. That was down 26.4 percent from 14,749 for the previous quarter and down 30.3 percent from 15,577 a year ago.

The average purchase loan was $129,206. The most active lenders to home buyers are Washington Mutual, Sierra Western Mortgage and Bank of America, Dataquick reported.

New legislation effective July 1 requires all perspective home sellers in Washington to complete a 60-hour Real Estate Fundamentals course prior to sitting for an examination.

The state’s Department of Licensing also will require broker exam candidates to complete 30 hours each of the following: real estate law, broker management, business management and one approved elective course. Salespeople must take all courses and the comprehensive exam within the last five years.

People who become licensed on or after July 1 must comply with the new legislation.

If you have questions about the new examination and licensing requirements, call the Department of Licensing’s Real Estate Salesperson Section at (360)753-2250 or the Broker Section at (360)753-2262.

Riverpoint Village, Goodale & Barbieri’s residential community on the south bank of the Spokane River near Gonzaga University, is likely to be complete by October.

According to the plans, Riverpoint Village is a self-sufficient urban zone near the downtown retail and entertainment corridor that aims to reduce residents’ dependency on cars and public transportation.

Construction on the newest phase of the village - a 24-unit River Ridge condominium with units priced between $74,600 and $118,7000 - began in late April. The architect for the village is Design Alliance. Inland Construction is the general contractor.

When the River Ridge condos are finished, Riverpoint Village will include three different housing options. The Point is home to large, attached, single-family houses; the Bankside Condominiums are spacious, upscale units with a view of the Spokane River.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development will likely suffer “draconian funding cuts and a serious reappraisal of its mission,” according to the Washington, D.C.based Real Estate Services Providers Council.

Proposals by key congressmen - Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole and Senate HUD Subcommittee Chairman Lauch Faircloth - seek to dismantle HUD completely, RESPRO warned in its spring newsletter.

Further, House Budget Committee Chairman John Kasich introduced a broad budget package that would dramatically reduce HUD programs as part of an attempt to cut $100 billion in discretionary funds over five years. The money cut from HUD’s budget will fund Republican tax cuts, RESPRO reported.

Senate HUD Appropriations Chairman Kit Bond and House Housing Subcommittee Chairman Rick Lazio are also in the process of significantly revising the Clinton Administration’s prosed “HUD Reinvention Blueprint.” The revision aims to shrink HUD’s 60 major programs into three.

The National Association of Home Builders pledged their support in April for the “Contract with America” because the Republicans’ agenda promotes homeownership opportunities, said Jim Irvine, the association’s president.

“The private property rights and regulatory reform measures would provide compensation to landowners whose property is devalued by federal actions and would take the federal government off of its high fat diet of bureaucratic red tape, bad science and excessive regulations,” Irvine wrote in the Housing News Service press release.

He said federal regulatory requirements, when combined with local and state housing regulations, can add as much as 20 percent to the cost of building a new single-family home.

TRANSACTIONS

RPM Rehabilitation & Associates Inc.leased 3,888 square feet at 109 S. Arthur. Agents: Bill Butler of WEB Properties and Dan Cantu of Kiemle & Hagood Co.

Photography by Gregory leased 1,380 square feet at Marycliff Hall, 707 W. 7th. Agent: Dan Cantu of Kiemle & Hagood Co.

Idaho Barber & Beauty Supply Inc. leased 2,360 square feet at 124 E. Short to relocate from Boise. Agents: Mark Lucas and Tracy Lucas of Kiemle & Hagood Co.

Bruce & Doug Koch leased 6,120 square feet for a sheet metal and fabrication distributor at 5328 N. Sycamore. Agents: Mark Lucas and Tracy Lucas of Kiemle & Hagood Co.

Colonial Clinic, a counseling center currently at 315 W. 9th, leased 2,700 square feet for a relocation to the Rivercrossing Building, 910 N. Washington. Agent: Jim Hawley of Kiemle & Hagood Co.

CCI Inc. leased 6,000 square feet at 715 E. Sprague. Agents: Jeff McGougan of Tomlinson Black Commercial and Dan Cantu of Keimle & Hagood Co.

Easy Law Inc., a company specializing in the preparation of legal documents, leased 516 square feet at the NorthTown Office Building, 4407 N. Division, Suite 417. Agent: Linda Cobbs of Kiemle & Hagood Co.

Northwest Directories leased 2,200 square feet at 112 E. 1st. Agent: Jim Hawley of Kiemle & Hagood Co.

Alliance Publishing Inc. leased 240 square feet at the Honeycutt Building, 1909 E. Sprague, Suite 108. Agent: Kenneth McLeod of Kiemle & Hagood Co.

Paul Hopkins and Linda Correll, distributors and printers of dart supplies, leased a section of the Cox Building, 7110 E. Sprague, Bay F. Agent: Craig Soehren of Kiemle & Hagood Co.

Marcus Semay, collectibles distributor, leased 550 square feet at 1917 E. Sprague. Agent: Kenneth McLeod of Kiemle & Hagood Co.

The ARC of Spokane’s Offices for Creative Employment Services and The People’s Place Program leased 8,000 square feet for an expansion at 115 E. Indiana. Agents: Michael Meagher and Kenneth McLeod of Keimle & Hagood Co.

Subway leased 1,144 square feet at 5005 N. Division to relocate its franchise at North Division and Rowan. Agents: Keith Lotze of American West, and Joel Crosby and Anne Betow of Tomlinson Black Commercial.

Washington Mutual Bank leased 2,000 square feet at 412 E. 30th to maintain operations until its newly constructed building at 29th and Grand is complete. Agent: Jeff McGougan of Tomlinson Black Office Division.

Weight Watchers leased 1,631 square feet at Sunset Mall of Coeur d’Alene for occupancy on July 1. Agents: Randy Jassman of Tomlinson Black Commercial and Jim Bonuccelli of Village Square Realty.

Platt Electric Supply leased 1,200 square feet at 1120 N. Mullan Road. Agent: Gil Miltenberger of Tomlinson Black Office Division.

R.W. Robideaux & Co. has acquired the management and leasing of the following properties: the Miller Building and the adjacent Whitten Building, 808 W. Sprague; and the Symons Building, 7 S. Howard.