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

DATE: SUNDAY, December 12, 1993                   TAG: 9312130379
SECTION: HOMES                    PAGE: E-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

HOME SALES CONTINUE STRONG SHOWING IN STATE

Home sales rose 2.7 percent in October across the state, the Virginia Association of Realtors reported last week. And for the first 10 months of this year, the sales of new and existing homes is about even with the same period of last year.

The trade group said its members wrote contracts on 5,371 sales in October, compared with 5,229 in October 1992. The year-to-date total was 55,997 this year, up 0.8 percent over 55,573 in the corresponding period of 1992.

"The continued strong performance by the real estate market is adding momentum to our general economic recovery," said association President Edward Pagett. He credited the rise in sales to increased consumer confidence and an assumption that mortgage rates will stabilize in 1994.

by CNB