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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 29, 2006)
œi'‘ ^Jortlanò (ßbserucr March 29. 2006 Page A 7 H ousing êj $2 Lower Housing Prices Possible Figures show ' market cooling (A P) — Sales o f new homes plunged by the largest amount in nearly nine years in February w hile the median price of a new hom e dropped for the fourth straight month, providing fresh evidence that the n ation's once- booming housing market is cool ing off. The Commerce Department re ported that sales of new single family homes dropped by 10.5 per cent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual sales pace of 1.08 million homes. It was the second straight monthly decline and was much bigger than the small 2 per cent dip that Wall Street was ex pecting. The drop in new home sales follow ed new s T hursday that sales o f previously owned homes actually rose by a stronger-than- expected 5.2 percent last month follow ing five straight monthly declines. Analysts said the trend in both reports pointed to a slow ing housing market after five record-setting years. The slowdown in sales was putting pressure on prices. The median price of a new home sold last month dropped to $230,400, down by 1.6 percent from Janu ary and o ff 2.9 percent from Feb ruary 2005. The median is the mid point where half the homes sold for more and half for less. "«3 L E G E N D at New Columbia Up to 1806 sq. ft., 3 Bedrooms, 2.5 Baths, Great Rooms, Master Suites with Walk-in Closets and Private Baths, 2-Car Attached Garages, much more. From 1-5, Take Columbia Exit, Won Columbia, Son Portsmouth, Eon Cecelia C o n stru ctio n w orkers c u t sid in g for a h o u s e b e in g built a t th e Toll B ro th ers Van W yck Glen d e v e lo p m e n t in Fishkill, N. Y. (AP p h o to ) Analysts believe sales will de- cline this year as the housing boom slows under the impact of rising mortgage rates. Experts also be- lieve that the growing backlog of unsold homes will start to put more pressure on home sellers to reduce prices in the months ahead. e a rth a c f v & n f a g e (503) 285-2777 W e C a n F in a n c e Y o u r D r e a m H o m e ! A T W W W .L E G E N D -M O R T G A G E .C O M . A P P L Y O N -L IN E ! Author Offers Home Buyer Tips Book addresses minority issues Amazon.com best-selling author Dr. T affy W ag n er is taking hom eow nership education one step further with her unique book for minority homeownership titled “Homebuyer’s Helper.” Homeownership is the A m eri can Dream, yet according to sta tistics taken from the National A s s o c ia tio n of R e a lto rs , hom eow nership for both African A m e ric a n s and H isp a n ic s is about 20 percent below the na tional average o f 68 percent. Low and moderate-income fami lies are the g ro u p s th at homeownership eludes the most. “H om eow nership is not just about buying a home, but under standing and planning for the ex- L e g e n d H o m e s .c o m to U-gtHl Real b itu r .Scnicre. Pncv-. & avalabilin mhjccl u> change without notice. See Sale» Rep hie details. Bniker SOJ-tUO-HOfW.1236. F U R N IS H E D penses that come with be ing a homeowner,” Wagner said. H er p u b lic a tio n d is cu sses ex p enses a hom eow ner will incur. She gives insight and ex am p les m ost people never think to ad d ress. T his book o f fers tip s on access to credit. MODEL OPEN D A IL Y AT NOON m im A rr q / thv (f clearing up a poor cred it h is to ry , se c u rin g c a p ita l fo r a dow npaym ent and u n d e rsta n d in g in f o r m a tio n a b o u t th e hom ebuying process. Welcoming Diverse Populations Workshops tackle gentrification issues The city of Portland and of its advocates on neighborhood issues have com m itted to addressing gentrification, the so-called dis placement of one population with another, in a series of public work shops aimed at supporting diverse neighborhoods with good leaders and organizations. The following three workshops are sponsored by Neighborhood Involvement in partnership with the Northeast Coalition of Neighbor hoods, R esolutions Northwest, Central Northeast Neighbors and Southeast Uplift: northeast Portland will talk about cultural backgrounds affect partici how gentrification has impacted pation in neighborhood groups? their lives. The topics include, How groups can better welcome what has happened? W ho’s been and retain new members? And how harmed and how? And what can to recruit diverse neighbors and be done to repair the harm? Par keep them engaged? ticipants will be invited to join Building Bridges: Reaching sm all-group discussions to bet Out to Diverse Members of O ur ter understand and consider ideas Communities to repair the harm caused by W ednesday, May 31 from 6:30 gentrification. p.m. to 9 p .m . at Southeast Uplift, Creatinga Welcoming Environ 3534 S.E. Main. Topics sched ment for Your Neighborhood O r uled for discussion include, new ganization perspectives on neighborhood Tuesday, May 2 from 6:30p.m. to livability issues, outreach strate 9 p.m. at Central NENeighbors.415 gies and meeting styles from the Gentrification: A Restorative N.E. 87th Ave. The workshop will point of view o f diverse com m u Listening Circle push for new ideas for engaging nity leaders. Wednesday, April 19 from 6:30 the unique voices and perspectives Space at all three events is lim p.m. to 9 p.m. at the First AME of under-represented neighbors ited and registration is needed. Zion Church, 4304 N. Vancouver who’ve traditionally not been ac Contact N ickole Cheron at 503-823- Ave. African-American residents tive in neighborhood associations. 2036 or email nickole.cheron® and leaders o f inner north and Group exercises will focus on how ci.portland.or.us JumpStart is a tool to help first-time homebuyers increase their buying power by temporarily lowering the payment on their first mortgage. This enables you to purchase and renovate a home today, that you might otherwise have to delay. Call SO3-8Î3-34OO or e-mail nhp@pdc.us. To Place Your Advertisement In Our Special Editions Contact a sales representative at Phone: 503 288 00 33 Fax: 503 288 0015 e mail: classifieds@portlaridobserver.com if^NíPÜMaüRHÜÜÜ (I he ^Llnrthtnb (Ohserucr www.pdc.us/homepurchase Your Partner for Home Purchase, Repair & Renovation I m u h i* n Porr/nirC • Z- »/are PI Mt KirrpS ur <5 a second mey-gage used m combination with a POC '‘ jroa se arc Re-XMiton Ina r.-otgage POC placet the ptxeeds from the jumpSt ar. ioar i- a secured account Each montt, money « wfhdrawf from the account ard addec to your tempo,an»y "M ix e r the fuH w ym ert o r the first mongage Over the cewt four years your < rr mertgage oayment to mafre mortgage payments gracjaltv >rcease P O K T IA N D D IV IlO F M IN T C O M M IS S IO N At the oegme>g o f th t W h v w the fumoStan assistance ends and you begr makm j tne KJ payment on the first mortgage » I