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Show Friday, July 5, THE UTAH STATESMAN Page 2 Down Payment Cut Is Controversial The following article is reprinted from the Deseret News by JACK JARRARD Deseret News Business Editor The cutting by Congress of the amount of minimum down .payments on houses was meet with mixed emotions out here in the West , Congress this week completed action and sent to the White House a bill authorizing sharp reductions in down payments remortgages. quired on government-insure- d It was expected to be signed quickly by President Eisenhower. The Federal Housing Administration will have the say so on when the slash in down payments go into effect. Also in the bill were provisions that the governmental agendes-FH- A and Veterans Administration could have the control on the amount of discount lenders could charge. discount is a percentage the lender charges The the seller or builder to bring the monetary return up to where it could equal the amount charged as interest on a conventional so-call- Commerce Doings Utah had almost million licensed motor-vehic- le operators during 1956, compared to 78 million in the United States. These figures were reported by State agencies to the Bureau, of Public Roads, U. S. Department of Commerce. Motqfr vehicle registrations reached 346,909 in Utah in the same year. Utah is the only state that issues licenses for a 5 year period, the majority are for a 2 year period. During 1956 there were 66,845 licenses issued to operators in Utah compaired to 167,963 in Arizona, 145,781 in Idaho, 169,043 in Montana, 190,622 in New Mexico, and 105,792 in Wyoming. Of these six western states Utah IN UTAH ranks second in estimated total licenses in Force during 1956 with 3. 416,291. Arizona is first with 541,-37- NOW Broadway and Metropolitan Opera Stars STADIUM BOWL University of Utah The ratio of licensed drivers to registered vehicles has steadily decreased from 1.34 drivers for each vehicle in 1949 to 1.21 in 1956. Nationally, this decreasing ratio may help to solve the problem of who gets the family car tonight. Undoubtedly, it does reflect a generally higher standard of living and more widespread car ownership. Variations among individual States probably reflect differences in proportions of rural and urban population, average family earnings, and vehicle use habits. 1957 SUMMER FESTIVAL tlwuaif July 6 and 8 through 3 1 SALOME July 17, 19 and 20 singing in UNIVERSITY OF UTAH -- ed THE UTAH nA STATESMAN Weekly Newspaper Devoted te Good Goverueat" home loan. HARRY B. MILLER, Publisher distheir have this banks area in 121 Church Street upped Phone EM Incidentally, most them now Most of week. are chargEntered as 2nd Class matter at the Post Office at Salt Lake count percentage in the past the out banker But one as of minimum City, Utah, under the act of March 3, 1879. pointed ing a seller doesnt pay it. Its added to the total cost of the house and Subscription rate $1.00 per year Published the buyer pays it. weekly at 421 Church Street, Salt Lake City, Utah. thinks in cut Board the Real Estate it Lake The Salt NATIONAL EDITORIAL ASSOCIATION, 1956 says down payments on houses with mortgages protected by Unde! Samuel will help more people get homes. The board thinks it will Vol. 11; No. 56 Friday, July 5, 1957 builder. really help real estate sales, and also will help the However, the board doesnt like the idea of the government agencies having the say so on the amount of discount charges. Arthur Christiansen, president of the Utah Home Builders Assn., thinks it will do the builder of new homes some good if it is put into effect right away. He says there will have to be more money available in the lenders' vaults, but the slash in down payment requirements will qualify more people for buying homes. We have a situation here where there are a lot of people who have high enough income to qualify for the mortgage, but they havent been able to save up the amount of money needed for die high down payment, Mr. Christiansen said. He added that he wanted to study the bill more carefully. 49 2V. why Ancient Age can say: But watch the lenders on the amount of down payment. loans have eased 'on the down payment, d While the it still is the bank or savings and loan institution which has the say on whether or not the money is there for a loan. Indications are that most lending institutions here, anyway, will keep to the 10 down. A. M. McDonald, vice president of Walker Bank & Trust Co., who has charge of the mortgage lending department there, says the major problem in the housing market still is the shortage of mortgage money. There are not enough mortgage funds available at a 5 rate to meet the public demand. The lowering of the down payment on FHA loans will not solve this problem because it does not provide more money, but it does provide more buyers for homes which means increased demand for the available housFHA-backe- ing money, Mr. McDonald said. And as a banked pointed out this increased demand for the available housing money, Mr. McDonald said. And as a banker pointed out this increased competition for the short supply of mortage money very likely can only result in highte interest rates. Inasmuch as the interest rate on the FHA loan is fixed at 5 for mortgage insurance reactually 5 when the on-t- his is tacked FHA will mean higher discounts quired by paid by the sellers of homes in order to find financing for the sale of their house. And if the housing bill regulates the amount of discounts I believe this new housing bill is inflatonary because of all istic the result may well be the drying-u- p of the market for FHA loans. I believe this new housing bill is inflationary because of the ramifications, a banker said. However, there still can be a lot of mortages completed because Fannie Mae-Fed- eral National Mortage Assn., a federal agency-h- as money to buy mortages from private institutions. However, some lending agencies do not sell mortage papers to Fannie Mae. The president of the nations largest savings bank-T- HE BOWERY SAVINGS BANK of New York said that he drought the housing bill was unsound and politically inspired. Any move in the direction of making it easier for the people to borrow money is not a good thing at this time, he said. Earl B. Schwulst, the Bowery president, said, with the country riding along at the crest of a boom and with the current tremendous demand for money any easing of credit will only intensify inflationary preasures. His bank is nearly 70 per cent invested in mortages. - All we distill is Kentucky straight bourbon. We know that bourbon of the finest quality requires choice grains. That's all we use. We know it calls for the greatest skill in distilling. The men who guide the making of Ancient Age are the most experienced in the industry. And it takes lots of time. Thats why we wait six full years for careful aging to bring the quality ingredients to their peak of maturity. And to safeguard the uniform quality of Ancient Age, we distill it at one place only ... at the Ancient Age distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky . . . the heart of the bourbon country. Nothing has been spared to make Ancient Age the greatest bourbon of them all. We invite you to try it tonight. After one taste, youll understand why we can make the challenge: If you can find a better bourbon . . . buy it! , KENTUCKY STRAIGHT BOURBON WHISKEY 6 YEARS 0L0 86 proof. $1955 ancient age distilling co., Frankfort, ky. |