NO SLOWING OF HOME SALES SEEN ANYTIME SOON.

Byline: GREGORY J. WILCOX Real Estate

A healthy dose of June gloom preceded summer's official arrival on Saturday. It didn't dampen the hot housing market, though. And it doesn't look like anything soon will, either.

Sages who follow residential real estate were pretty confident heading into 2003 that things would slow this year. Sales would lag 2002's stellar count by about 5 percent and price gains would retreat into the single- digit percent range versus a year ago.

But with the year about half over, there are no signs of give-up anywhere in the market for either purchases or refinancing.

So the next six months should pretty much look like the first. Sales counts will remain strong thanks to historically low interest rates and strong demand while prices continue rising.

Support for this scenario comes from a spate of reports issued over the past two weeks that show that interest rates will likely remain low for the balance of the year, a big reason why the market has remained surprisingly strong through May, the most recent month for which numbers are available.

On Wednesday, the Washington, D.C.-based Mortgage Bankers Association of America survey found that the interest rate for a 30-year fixed rate loan dipped to a record low of 4.99 percent from the previous record low of 5.06 percent a week earlier.

The group also said it believes mortgage originations will reach $3.3 trillion this year, shattering last year's record of $2.5 trillion.

``I don't expect rates to take a sudden turn at this point,'' said Phil Colling, an MBAA senior economist.

A day later, McLean, Va.-based Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, said that its survey showed the rate for a 30-year loan was 5.21 percent, unchanged from the record low it set the previous week.

Frank Nothaft, the company's chief economist, noted that the economy may be poised to pick up steam, but he's not forecasting any rapid mortgage rate increase in the near future.

And most economists expect the Federal Reserve Board to nudge down the federal funds rate when it meets this week. One offshoot would be a continued low interest rate environment.

And this kind of climate is good for the housing market, which has been the economy's strongest sector.

For example, in the San Fernando Valley during May, consumers bought 1,284 previously owned single-family homes and the median price rocketed 19 percent to a record $367,500.

The sales count was the second-highest for a May since 1989.

``I just think prices are going to continue to go up and people will continue to buy as long as interest rates stay in this unbelievable range. There isn't anything stopping it,'' Jim Link, executive vice president of the Southland Regional Association of Realtors, said of the market.

Gregory J. Wilcox, [phone]

greg.wilcox(at)dailynews.com