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Rise in family home values
The Office o f Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) reported
that single-family home prices across the United States rose an average
3.2% in the 12 months ending March 31, 1997. There was, however,
significant variation by region and state in house price performance.
OFHEO’s House Price Index (HPI) for the first quarter o f 1997 showed
house prices rising faster than the national average in four regions. East
North Central (Great Lakes states) 6.6%; Mountain (eight-state Rocky
Mountain region), 5%; East South Central (Kentucky, Tennessee, M issis­
sippi and Alabama) 4.9%; and W est North Central (upper Midwest and
northern Plains states) 4.8%. House price appreciation lagged the national
average in the remaining five regions. The slowest 12-month growth was
recorded in the Middle Atlantic region (New York, Pennsylvania and New
Jersey), where prices rose just 0.4%.
Among the states, Michigan had the highest home price growth rate,
with the average value o f a single-family home rising 9.5% in the year
ended March 31. Next was Oregon, 8.8%, and Utah, 8.2%. In the past five
years, U tah’s house prices have risen 74.7%, the most o f any state. The HPI
listed nine states with house price annual growth rates above 5%: Indiana,
Colorado, Ohio, Missouri, W isconsin, Tennessee, North Carolina, K en­
tucky and Montana.
Average house prices declined in the 12-month period in five states.
Maine, 0.5%, Connecticut, 0.6% , California, 0.9%, Rhode Island, 1.5%
and Hawaii, 6.8%. H aw aii’s residential home values, as measured by the
HPI, have declined 10% in the past five quarters.
The price m ovements contained in the quarterly HPI are based on sales
or refinancings o f single-family homes whose mortgages have been
purchased or securitized by Fannie Mae (Federal National Mortgage
Association) or Freddie Mac (Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation).
The combined mortgage records o f these two government-sponsored
enterprises form the nation’s largest database o f mortgage transactions.
The HPI is a weighted repeat sales index, meaning that it measures
average price changes in repeat sales or refinancings on the same single­
family properties. The mortgages measured by the HPI are both conform ­
ing and conventional. Conforming refers to a mortgage that both meets the
underwriting guidelines o f Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac and doesn t exceed
the conforming loan limit, now $214,600 for single-family homes
Conventional means that the mortgages are neither insured nor guaran
teed by the FHA or V A . In 1995, about 83% o f conventional mortgages had
principal amounts under the conforming limit. In 1996, Fannie Mae and
Freddie Mac purchased or securitized roughly 37% o f all conventional,
single-family mortgage loans originated or refinanced.
The HPI is published by the Office o f Federal Housing Enterprise
Oversight (OFHEO). OFHEO is the governm ent’s financial safety and
soundness regulator o f Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. These two govern­
ment-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) are the nation’s largest housing
finance institutions. The two GSEs were chartered by Congress to help
generate a continuing supply o f affordable mortgage credit for homebuyers.
They do this through secondary market operations — buying mortgages
from primary lenders (estors or holding the mortgages in their own
portfolios.
NOTE: Division and state rankings reported in the various HPI tables
may vary over time due to the following factors: (1) changes in housing
values that are observed for holding periods that end with the most recent
quarter; (2) differences in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac purchase patterns
that result in changes in the com position o f the sample available for
analysis; and (3) sam pling variability in the estimated index. Each
quarter, the beginning and ending points used to calculate the appreciation
in housing values are adjusted to the most recently available information.
This can result in significant changes in the rankings o f states in which the
indexes vary from quarter to quarter. Changes in Fannie M ae’s and Freddie
Mac’s purchase patterns occur over longer periods of time, but can also have
an impact on the underlying samples. Sampling variability in the estimated
indexes is largely a function o f the size o f the samples that can be obtained
from GSE mortgage transactions, particularly for less populous states.
Oregon realtors recieve award
The Rogue Valley Community
Development Corp. (RVCDC), a
local nonprofit organization, and the
A sh la n d /M e d fo rd
B o a rd
of
Realtors(R) received the “Partners
in Housing” award and a $10,000
check for their efforts to promote
affordable homeownership oppor­
tunities to low-, m oderate-, and
middle-income families in Jackson
County.
The “Partners in Housing” award
program is a joint initiative by the
Fannie Mae Foundation and the
National Association o f Realtors(R).
The “Partners in Housing” pro­
gram supports the efforts o f state
associations and local boards o f Re­
altors working with nonprofit orga­
nizations to meet the housing needs
o f low-income families in their com­
munity. To date, the Fannie Mae
Foundation has provided $370,000
nationally in grants to award recipi­
ents.
“The Foundation is very pleased
to be working with the NAR on the
‘Partners in Housing’ program. The
Rogue Valley Community Develop­
ment Corporation is a perfect ex­
ample o f our mission to expand
homeownership educational oppor­
tunities so more families can reach
the
A m e ric a n
d re a m
of
hom eownership,” said Wendy R.
Sherman, president and CEO o f the
Fannie Mae Foundation.
The Rogue Valley Community
Development Corp, works to ex­
pand affordable homeownership
opportunities in Jackson County,
Ore. In 1996, RVCDC entered a
new partnership with South Medford
High School to teach students con-
struction, math, communication, and
teamwork skills while rehabilitat­
ing homes in distressed neighbor­
hoods for sale to low- and moderate-
income families.
Ashland/Medford Board o f Real­
tors sponsors this partnership with
financial support and help in select­
ing rehab sites.
“ I am pleased that the Rogue
Valley CDC has been selected as a
winner o f the ‘Partners in Housing’
award,” said Sharon Galloway, ex­
ecutive director o f the Rogue Valley
Community Development Corp.
“Our staff has worked diligently
to develop a quality program for the
students. In teaching our young
people marketable skills, they learn
the importance o f homeownership
and volunteer work in revitalizing
their community. And, while the
RVCDC is the recipient o f this
award, all our partners should be
honored, too.”
The Fannie Mae Foundation, a
private foundation, supports na­
tional and local nonprofit organiza­
tions working to provide decent and
affordable housing, and otherwise
improve the quality o f life, in com­
m unities throughout the U nited
States. To promote homeownership,
the Foundation also sponsors public
service outreach efforts, including
consumer education and home-buy­
ing fairs, and conducts housing and
policy research.
The Foundation’s sole source o f
support is Fannie Mae. The Foun­
dation is headquartered in Wash­
ington, D.C. and has regional of­
fices in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas,
Pasadena, and Philadelphia.
Fannie Mae foundation awards of excellence announced
T he Fannie M ae F oundation
recentely announced the ninth an­
nual Maxwell Awards o f Excellence
winners, awarding $283,000 in grants
to 56 nonprofit organizations for
their accomplishments in creating af­
fordable housing for low-income
Americans nationwide.
The Foundation honored the top
six awardees with grants of $25,000
each at a Capitol Hill ceremony today
with members o f Congress and rep­
resentatives o f the housing commu­
nity.
As part o f the Maxwell Awards
10th anniversary celebration next
year, the Foundation announced the
creation o f a new $4 million Sus­
tained Excellence Awards Program.
In this program, up to 10 nonprofit
organizations will receive three-year
grants o f approximately $ 150,000 for
organizational development, includ­
ing technology, that leads to building
better communities, and PRIs of up to
$250,000 to advance housing pro­
duction
In addition, the Foundation will
expand the original Maxwell awards
program by $100,000 annually, and
conduct research to report on the
lessons o f success o f past Maxwell
awardees.
“As we reach the 10th year anni­
versary o f the Maxwell Awards, it is
even more important to celebrate the
excellent work that nonprofit organi-
zations do in communities across the
country,” said James A. Johnson,
chairman o f the Fannie Mae Founda­
tion Board.
“Today’s announcement o f the re­
structuring o f Maxwell Awards, and
the $4 million expansion, recognizes
the affordable housing accomplish­
ments o f the past, celebrates the
achievements o f the present, and
provides resources to build for the
future.”
The six Awards o f Excellence
projects, located in Florida, Texas,
Minnesota, Washington, Delaware,
and Washington, DC, were recom­
mended by an independent 12-mem-
ber advisory committee comprised of
individuals recognized for their ex­
pertise and leadership in the areas of
housing and community development.
The winners were selected from
161 applicants from 40 states, includ­
ing the District o f Columbia. The
Foundation also awarded $10,000
grants to three alternate awardees.
$5,000 grants to 11 finalists, and
$3,000 grants to six special mentions.
“The Maxwell awardees have dem­
onstrated remarkable efforts with their
innovative, professional, and caring
approach to creating affordable hous­
ing in theircommunities,’’commented
Wendy R. Sherman, president and
CEO of the Fannie Mae Foundation.
“It is a privilege to showcase the
awardees unique abilities to revital­
ize neighborhoods, help people make
the transition from homelessness to
independence, and increase the avail­
ability o f housing for working poor,
elderly, physically-challenged, and
new Americans.”
The Maxwell Awards o f Excel­
lence Program, established in 1988,
was created by the Fannie Mae Foun­
dation to encourage and recognize
community-based, nonprofit groups
that successfully work to develop and
create housing to meet the specific
needs o f low-income families and
individuals.
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Underdeveloped social capital in neighborhooods
Continued from Front
A sian m in o ritie s/c u ltu ra l g ro u p s.
At the sam e tim e, I d e a lt w ith a
sim ilar m u lti-c u ltu ra l m atrix as a
p ro fesso r at P o rtlan d S tate U n i­
versity.
O ver the y ears 1 have m a in ­
tain ed a b road and a d v e rse n e t­
w ork with these cu ltu res and w ith
in d ivid u als.
Not just as a journalist, but speak­
ing engagements, as tutor, program
developer and consultant. It is from
these contacts and experiences I draw
in making such statements as, “there
definitely is a gradual cross-cultural
and cross-generation “socialization”
process in progress.
But, c e rta in ly , it need s to be
accelerated - m ore stru c tu re : In
the cultu ral g ro u p s and b etw een
them , within the families, between
members o f a w orkforce, and be­
tween neighbors/neighborhoods and
between c h ild re n /y o u th . C o n v er-
i sation is an art, a to o l, c a p ita l.
P a re n ts/te a c h ers tell me “ m i­
nority kids do not segregate them ­
selves nearly as much on public con­
veyances... I was surprised to find
that a number o f my poorest readers
were rapidly developing new inter­
ests and reading skills as they avidly
searched the NET... My k id 's doing
what I didn’t do in high school-m ak­
ing friends with ’other than his ow n’;
really broadening himself, exchang­
ing information about jobs, unsus­
pected career opportu n ities... My
daughter has many new scholarship
prospects.”
And a reader reminds me that I
cited the 29-yr. old black lumber bro­
ker on S. W. Alder -- got into the
business o f selling redwood through
association with a basketball team ­
mate whose father was a broker.
O ther young people are report­
ing that they obtained financing for
innovative enterprises in a sim ilar
manner - intercultural, association is
freeing many from a self-im posed
prison. In my classes and lectures I
c o n sta n t
ly r e ite r a te th a t o u r “ social
capital” may be our most neglected
asset; “ I d id n ’t get my accounting
clients with new spaper a d s - it was
through conversations w herever I
met people. M any o f us k n o w ' but
c a n ’t a rtic u la te !
want. Now you need the
financing. U.S. Bank can
help with flexible terms and
affordable monthly payments
that make buying your first
home easier than you might
think. We can qualify you for
a loan with a very small
down payment— sometimes
“T all oaks
From
as little as 1 percent. And
because home buying can be
confusing, we offer Home
Buyer Education Classes
Little Acorns
through our Community
Lending ( ‘enters to help you
David Everett • 1797
The Portland Development Commission knows that healthy
and growing small businesses are beneficial to the local
economy. Community-based businesses keep jobs and the
wealth generated right in the communities that support them.
better understand how it all
works. We know you have
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bank. We want you to choose
us. Because we believe the
We also know that small and emerging businesses can have
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expanding businesses for many yeafe and we may be able to
help yours too.
dream o f owning a home
We offer loan programs that can help with building or equip­
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your dreams come true.
Call our Business Finance s ta ff at
823-3321 or 823-3347 to see if your
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o f our loan programs.
should be available to
everyone, ( ‘all us to make
| lls J b a n k
Without yd«, there's no us."
Call 503-731-1077
&
© 1997 U.S Bank Member FD»C i T n ”