tate / National
THE BATTALION Page 11
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1981
Housing market gets boost
as alternative to rising rents
Press International 19 percent last year and “thus far ases were by families or groups Tko
United Press International
WASHINGTON — Soaring
rents are one reason why a high
percentage of first time buyers are
now active in the housing market.
And new market studies show
that some rent-paying families are
pooling their incomes to buy
structures and set up multi-home
dwellings.
“First-time buyers represented
less than 10 percent of the market
in 1970,” said Jackson Goss, presi
dent of Investors Mortgage Insur
ance Co. of Boston.
The same types of buyers in
creased to 21 percent in 1979, hit
19 percent last year and “thus far
in 1981 are past the 35 percent
mark,” Goss said.
Studies now project that the
number will increase to 40 per
cent by the end of the year.
Asked about the upsurge in
first-time buyers, Goss said there
were three main reasons: a grow
ing shortage of rental units and
their soaring prices; a feeling that
it is better to buy now than later,
and a belief that owning a home is
still the best investment.
Studies of first-time buyers by
the mortgage insurance co. found
that more than half of the purch
ases were by families or groups
with two incomes or more. Nine
ty-three percent are between the
ages of 21 and 35, with one of five
being single.
The volume of sales to first-time
buyers is largest in the Sun Belt.
New England is the only section
reporting a decrease in first-time
buyers.
“We are already beginning to
receive reports of builders using
creative designs to appeal to
young marrieds and singles, ” Goss
said. “Some are share-a-home
concepts; others utilize an apart
ment design to build a villa-type
house. The two-story, two-home
dwelling has evolved into the two-
story, four-home residents.”
Goss said first-time buyers have
told industry executives that they
are willing to pay more than the -
traditional 25 percent of their in
come in buying a home.
“This shift in household budget
ing was demonstrably a necessity .
during 1981,” Goss said. He said’"!
high prices and high interest rates
caused the shift. “We have>
bridged this gap by underwriting',*
buyers who were budgeting one-.
third of their monthly take-home !'
pay to qualify for mortgage loans. ”
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Staff photo by Becky Swanson
Suzanne Garnsey and Athena Vourvoulais
were in the basement of the Reed
McDonald building Monday evening
when the power went off for a few
minutes. Emergency lights at each end of
the hall came on to provide light for those
on the windowless floor. Garsney is a
senior animal science major; Vourvoulais
is a sophomore general studies student.
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United Press International
AUSTIN — Before he leaves
the post he has held for an unpre
cedented four terms, Speaker Bill
Clayton hopes to give Texas one
last legacy — a way to meet its
future water needs.
Clayton has been traveling the
state campaigning for voter
approval of a constitutional
amendment to create a Water
Trust Fund. The fund proposal
will appear as Amendment 4 on
the Nov. 3 ballot.
If the proposal, which was the
speaker’s pet piece of legislation
during the special session earlier
this year, is approved by voters,
50 percent of the excess state re
venue every biennium would be
dedicated for water trust funds.
The Legislature would be autho
rized to dedicate part or all of the
remainder of the surplus funds for
other purposes.
The proposed constitutional
amendment also would authorize
state credit guarantees for the re
payment of locally issued water or
flood control bonds.
Water for Texas, headed by Au
stin Mayor Carole McClellan, has
collected about $500,000 to cam
paign on behalf of the proposal.
Meanwhile, Clayton has been
traveling the state urging voters to
approve the constitutional amend
ment.
“I’m called to make a lot
speeches,” he said. “I’m not parti
cularly asked to speak on this
issue, but I direct my speeches to
the water trust fund.
“Polls indicate the proposal is
pretty well accepted statewide. I
hope people realize the import
ance of it. Of course, it’s not a
water plan like some people think.
It’s a water trust fund. ”
Clayton, a Panhandle farmer,
disagrees with opponents of the
proposal who contend a Water
Trust Fund would only help West
Texas, which is experiencing wa
ter shortage problems.
“A couple of years of drought
and I guarantee you Houston
would be in a box,” the speaker
said. “They’ve already had to go to
water rationing in Houston during
the past when there was a shortage
of rain.”
Opponents do not question the
need for a comprehensive water
program in Texas, but contend
that backers of the Clayton’s Wa
ter Trust Fund have overesti
mated the amount of water the
state will need. They say the chief
constraint on the state’s water
supply is not a lack of money to
support water bonds, but rainfall.
The opponents also argue that
the Water Trust Fund is a hastily
developed program and other
alternatives have not been ex
plored.
They contend that the Texas
Water Development Board,
which would administer the Wa
ter Trust Fund if voters approve
it, has demonstrated a strong bias
toward growth and reservoir de
velopment and not to conserva
tion and more efficient water use.
But Clayton said the Water
Trust Fund is prudent and would
not be a waste of taxpayers’
money.
“If it is not approved, I think
water projects would be de
veloped at a higher cost to local
governments,” the speaker said.
“And I think water shortages
would be more acute and come
much quicker if the plan does not
pass.”
United Press International
GARLAND — A family of five.
Hiving in a 1973 station wagon, said
life in Illinois was never as rough.
The Tomas Perez family is un
able to rent an apartment and
establish an address, which is re
quired for school registration and
to receive emergency food
stamps.
A station wagon is simply not a
legitimate address, officials say, so
the three children, ages 9, 11 and
13, cannot attend school. Perez’
wife suffers from arthritis and
wants to move to Tucson, Ariz.
Perez and his wife, Laurie, ar
rived from Springfield, III., a
week ago. Perez is working two
jobs as a waiter but has not yet
received a paycheck. The family
has been living on the tips he has
been given.
Mrs. Perez said life in Illinois
was never as rough.
“My husband was 'beverage
manager at a country club,” she
said. “We rented a beautiful home
and the kids were going to Catho
lic school. We had a beautiful life
there in that sense.
“We don’t want any help just
given to us,” she said. “We would
pay back whatever we would re
ceive. It’s embarrassing to have to
go to people for help, but it hurts
even more to think of the kids. ”
The family intended to drive di
rectly to Tucson, Perez, said,
where the warmer climate would
ease the pain of rheumatoid arthri
tis in his wife’s knees and back.
But the $250 they counted on for
the journey was lost while driving
through the mountains of Ken
tucky asking directions to a free
way, he said.
The family was living in the car
— attached to a trailer — on a
church parking lot. A nearby fast
food restaurant allowed the family
to use its bathroom.
A church secretary, however,
said Monday the family had left
and “we have no idea where the
people are.” She said the Texas
Department of Welfare had been
calling the church trying to get
information about the family.
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Patio Style Pinto Beans
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THURSDAY EVENING SPECIAL
Italian Candle Light Spaghetti Dinner
SERVED WITH SPICED MEAT BALLS AND SAUCE
Parmesan Cheese - Tossed Green Salad
Choice of Salad Dressing — Hot Garlic Bread
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Cole Slaw
Hush Puppies
Choice of one
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Yankee Pot Roast
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Mashed
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gravy
Roll or Corn Bread & Butter
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Cornbread Dressing
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Giblet Gravy
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