Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 11, 1993                   TAG: 9308110058
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

MORE OF US CAN AFFORD NEW HOMES

"The economic conditions for purchasing a home have been improving steadily for one year now," said President William S. Chee of the National Association of Realtors.

The NAR said its Composite Housing Affordability Index shot up to 132.6 points in the second quarter, highest since it measured 137.2 in the fourth quarter of 1973.

Another index, measuring the ability of first-time buyers to buy an existing home, rose to 86.7 points, up from 78.5 during the same quarter of 1992.

The composite index measures the ability of a family earning the median income to buy a median-priced, previously owned home.

When the index measures 100, the median family income equals the amount needed to buy a median-priced home using conventional financing and a 20 percent down payment. The median income in the second quarter was $37,144.

Thus, half of the families in the nation earned 132.6 percent of income needed to qualify for the purchase of a home listed at the median price of $107,000.

Similarly, when the first-time buyer index registers 100, the typical first-time buyer - a renter family with wage earners between the ages of 25 and 44 years - can afford the typical starter home under existing financial conditions. - Associated Press