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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 5, 1980)
pa Mortgages tight Higher interest rates discourage homehuyers THE BATTALION Page 7 WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5, 1980 Texas high court justice will speak here Thursday Dff( :s ’>c b etie: don nembers whog .•ontests with i its should sigmi )icle at the Stt in 216 MSC United Press International Texas financial experts are as per plexed as the general public by the current home mortgage squeeze and most won’t even hazard a guess as to when the crunch might end. Officials from savings and loan associations, mortgage companies and banks across the state say cur rent sky-high interest rates — hover ing about 13 percent — are being rejected by potential homebuyers not only because prices are steep but also because of general anxiety about national and international problems. Weldon Fox of Metropolitan Sav ings in Dallas says the phones simply stopped ringing whn interest rates hit 13 percent. “We’ve got so much uncertainty in the world,” he said. “Inflation, the T Shuttle runs extended for Silver Taps By JERRY MAZE City Reporter Shuttle bus service will be ex- fig damage waste, ident. . | d all over dm ( on.third floor!;; many rumorsp. t know who fj body assume;::, ed up the repair' : 1 think Hnn’taimW tended until 11:30 p.m. on the Tues days of Silver Taps to accommodate off-campus students wishing to attend. Brad Smith, vice president for stu dent services, said the student sen ate has been searching for ways to increase student awareness of the , ,i a ■ ceremony. Silver Taps is the final tribute paid to Aggies who have died while they were Texas A&M stu- aikurs persons, j i as leaving tk dentS ’ “There have been fewer and fewer people at Silver Taps,” Smith said. “Students do not seem aware that it is going on. Perhaps the increased service will help. ” threat of recession, the energy crisis, international problems, high in terest rates plus the price of homes today. People don’t know who to turn to. ‘Why should I take on a loan that high?’ is what they’re asking.” Apparently answers haven’t been forthcoming. The slowdown, which began in earnest in September, was dramatic enough to reduce total mortgage money loaned in 1979 by more than 20 percent compared to 1978, according to a year-end report by the Austin-based Texas League of Sav ings and Loans. Using data supplied by a sampling of the largest savings and loan asso ciations across the state, the league reported mortgages totaling $6 bil lion, down from $7.6 billion the pre vious year. Construction loans for new single family homes also plummeted — nearly 50 percent — with $71 million worth closed during 1979 compared to $137 million the previous year. Perhaps even more significant, however, was a similar plunge in loan commitments (the amount of loans the savings institutions com mitted to fund at a later date). At the end of 1979, loan commit ments totaled $894 million, down sharply from the $1,021 billion com mitted in 1978. The steep declines in loan com mitments are a signal that a quick turnaround of the current mortgage situation is unlikely, said Durward Curlee of the Texas League of Sav ings and Loans. But Curlee declined to offer any predictions as to when the situation might begin to impove. “Things are looking bleak,” he said. “Is the borrower going to say, ‘No, I can’t, or won’t, pay 13 percent interest?’ How long is he going to keep saying that? If he decides (not to buy a home) then what is he going to do? We just don’t know.” Fox said if he had been asked late last fall or early winter when im provement might occur, he would have predicted a turnaround by June or July. Asked last week, he answered, “I don’t know when now. ” One mortgage company executive in Houston said predictions about the current economic situation were impossible because “the old logic, the old parameters” just don’t apply. “All indications are that it’s going to get worse before it gets better. ii is h Is have beenJl heir parents® ■kendand seeioj!; ident said. “I'nik ■ will getgirlstof ents to see. i 1. another thinii ‘ girls had sup wall themsehf ’ et us repainttW;;: i e cause, they au:. | Gene Oates, chairman of the shut- . tie bus operations committee, said 1 u eu atl0 “, > the new idea will be tried out at the :■ gu\s ysantedl nex t Silver Taps to see if the extra 1 ns 1 u • " ll service draws enough response to be , . , justified. igulabonssaylk nms may be pr Oates said the shuttle bus commit- sion of the areap tee and others involved are deliber ation is made; ating ideas for increasing bus service hours, but action has been held up ie told the girlsS by increasing costs of operation and ov<*r the darnar time required for planning. The extra hour of service will cost a jus pain ng projected $18 per bus, Oates said. To appropriae f our buses will cost $72 each ituation, ncc lefaced; theyWj ilation. I don’ttl “We are looking all the time for ust paintingovHi areas of greater need,” Oates said. “However, except for the scheduling change of Silver Taps, shuttle bus Service will probably remain as it is next semester.” When necessary. Silver Taps is at 10:30 p. m. on the first Tuesday of the month in front on the Academic Building. Now you know United Press International NEW YORK — Inflation and the rising price of gold have sparked pur chases of expensive gold watches, according to a major distributor of gold watches imported from Switzer land. A spokesman for the North Amer ican Watch Corp. said that 2,500 Concord watches were sold in Amer ica in 1979 at prices ranging from $4,400 to $60,000. Prices on a new companion watch for women, which is 35 percent smaller than men’s watches, start at $4,900. S SALESALESALESALESALESALESAL ALVAREZ ANTIQUE MAHOGANY SUNBURST .. NO. 5025 This dreadnought model of excel lent tone and resonance with sensi tive treble response is excellent for rhythm accompaniment. It has handsome sunburst, warm antique rust finish on the tight-grained, select spruce top and mahogany back and sides. Rosewood fingerboard is set on a slim neck, which is reinforced with a steel adjustable rod in a spe cial alloy “U” beam — the unique Alvarez design which makes such fast, slender necks possible. REG. 199 00 SALE 149 00 REG. 249 00 SALE jycjoo ALVAREZ MAHOGANY FOLK NO. 5014 A good all purpose guitar with well balanced tone. One piece back and side or rare Oboncol mahogany. Top is white spruce with herring bone inlay around sound hole. Cel luloid bound top and back. Nato mahogany neck has adjustable rod with “U” channel; speed satin finish for greater playing ease. Finger board is rosewood. Jacaranda-faced headpiece, individual, chrome, co vered machine heads. ALVAREZ MAPLE- JACARANDA DREADNOUGHT NO. 5053 A favorite with performing artists be cause of the choice wood, projec tion, and strong volume! Fine grained spruce top has inlaid rings around sound hole; white bound edges. Three-piece back has two panels of Jacaranda with curly maple center. Sides are Jacaranda. Nato maho gany neck, has adjustable steel rod; satin finished. Ebony fingerboard with nickel silver frets. Concealed gear individual chrome machine heads. Adjustable bridge. REG. 425 00 SALE 309°° KEyboARd Center MANOR EAST MALL Layaway BRYAN, TEXAS ve How much worse? Who knows?” he asked. Jim Anderson of Texas Federal Savings and Loan in Dallas echoed the uncertainties about predictions. But he said he would be surprised if there were a break before January 1981. Despite the downturn across the state, Texas has fared far better than other areas of the country, officials said. They attributed that in part to out-of-state residents being transfer red to Texas — with their employer often picking up the tab for ex penses, including those associated with selling their old home and buying a new one. The federal government’s decision to override state-imposed usury ceil ings also has had an effect by making more mortgage money available. But state financial experts say the effect has only been minimal because of customer resistance to 13 percent in terest rates. The override’s effect also has been minimized because the unpre cedented interest rates it allowed have priced out of the market a large percentage of potential home buyers who cannot afford the increased monthly terms that go with 13 per cent interest rates. “It’s made some money available, ” Anderson said. “Before there was no money. Now if you’re willing (to pay the high interest) you can get the money. But few people are willing. ” Or able. Texans who can’t afford current the price of today’s loans increasingly have been turning to assuming out standing loans on the home they want. Sellers eager to unload also have begun taking notes. Anderson said it was not generally known that Texas law provides that mortgages made at an interest rate above 10 percent can be repaid with out penalty charges. A speaker presented by MSC Poli tical Forum might shed some light on the works of the Texas judicial system. Charles Barrow, an associate jus tice of the Supreme Court of Texas, will talk on the topic, “Is Our Judicial System Working in Texas?” in Texas A&M University’s Rudder Tower, Thursday. A court justice since 1977, Barrow is a Baylor University graduate and currently a member on two promin ent judicial committees. Barrow’s talk is set for 12:30 p.m. Thursday in 701 Rudder. Admission is free. copies JSSS? •NoMlailm M•LargeOr< £ Ak • Legal Sbe PANHANDLE HOMETOWN CLUB Important Meeting Wed. March 5 7:30 PM OVERNIGHT RATES — 4« DURING THE DAY Reductions & Dissertations Collation & Binding&Pad&ng WE HAVE A XEROX 9400 — THE BEST COPYING MACHINE IN THE WOMDI Kinko’s Graphics, Inc. 201 College Main St. f713}846-9508 Enroll now SPEED READING AT Texas A&M University Learn: Skimming, Scanning, Study Skills and Text Reading March 17-May2 \L U i >-4 604 Rudder March 17-May 2 Time: M W F 11:00-12:00 or 12:00-1:00 Non Credit For more information call: 845-6811 Register at The Reading Lab - 718 Flarrington Tower Fee: $60.00