The real-estate industry continues to show good strength in the Cape Girardeau area.

Interest rates are good and people are responding, say area realtors.

"If the pace of the first five months continues, we could have the best year in a decade," said Marta Green, president of Classic Real Estate Ltd., Better Homes and Gardens.

Herb Annis of Ashland Realty Co. said sales had been great during the first four months of the year.

"They slowed a bit in May and early June, but these are always typically slow months," said Annis, who recently joined Century 21 and will become Century 21 Ashland Realty Co. July 1. "We're still seeing a lot of movement in new homes, too. We've started construction on several new homes in two subdivisions this year."

Thomas L. Meyer of Thomas L. Meyer Real Estate and Insurance, 230 N. Sprigg, agreed that "things are looking up."

"Our sales staff is busy," he said. "We're selling property in all price ranges. That includes residential and commercial."

Meyer said there is a lot of activity in commercial and industrial buildings. "We're getting a lot of inquiries concerning future industrial expansions," he said. "Financing is reasonable and available to qualified buyers, and people are a lot more positive."

"Sales of existing homes in the Cape Girardeau area are up more than 6 percent over this time a year ago," said Green, who added that the average prices of homes had increased.

Home prices have increased from the first quarter of 1992 to mid-June.

"Using the Multiple Listing statistics, the price of the average home in Cape Girardeau is $70,000," said Green. "That's based on the sale of more than 165 homes through the first week of June." That average is up almost $2,500 from the first quarter January, February, March figures, when the Cape average was $67,578."

Jackson home averages are about the same as Cape Girardeau.

"The average price of a house at Jackson is $69,700, based on the sale of 60 homes," said Green.

The average is much lower in Scott City, at $44,835.

The Multi Listing statistics show a total of 288 property sales through the first week of June.

"That includes residential, farms and vacant land," said Green. "The total volume for the sales was $18,592,800."

The volume of sales for 1992 is up more than $2.5 million over the same period in 1991. Statistics show that a total of 286 pieces of property were sold during the same period of 1991, but the volume was $16 million.

Home building in Cape Girardeau has also mounted a recovery. Permits for single-family dwellings is up substantially over 1991.

In 1991, only 72 permits were issued during the year for new houses at a cost of $8 million (average $112,000). Almost half that many residential permits were issued through the first four months of 1992.

Nationally, housing starts jumped 11 percent in May. The gain, the largest in more than a year, was spread across all regions of the country.

Meanwhile, sales of previously owned homes fell slightly (about 1.7 percent), but The May decrease represents the closing of sales that occurred in February and March, when higher rates prevailed, said John A. Tuccillo, economist for the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

Sales of existing homes totaled 3.43 million at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, down from 3.49 million in April, said the monthly report of NAR. Fixed-rate, 30-year mortgages averaged 8.94 percent in March and 8.76 percent in February, said NAR, citing statistics from the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. Rates had dropped to 8.48 percent during the week ending last Friday.

Sales of previously owned homes rose almost 4 percent in the Northeast, but they fell 2.2 percent in the Midwest and 3.1 percent in the South. Sales remained unchanged in the West.

The median price for an existing home nationally was $100,900 in May, down 2.3 percent from April and 0.4 percent from a year ago. The median means half of the homes cost more and half cost less.

Tuccillo said the drop in the median price indicates that people are buying lower priced homes, usually indicating first-time buyers.