17th Annual Good Friday Walk with the Suffering Stations of the Cross     March 21
A religious procession will proceed along downtown streets stopping at various institutions commemorating Jesus’ journey to Calvary and His solidarity with the suffering. Costumed actors will re-enact scenes from the Stations of the Cross at each stop. 8:30am - 11:30am. Rescue
Mission (Elm [...]

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Although the national foreclosure rate rose 79 percent between December 2006 and December 2007, the rate was still only 1.033 percent of all homes. This is a regional problem, not reflective of the overall real estate market.
MAKING SENSE OF THE STORY
• Foreclosure statistics are rarely presented in context. Because about 30 percent of homes are [...]

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A recovery in global credit markets will depend on stabilization in U.S. home prices and a massive reduction in housing inventory, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told Deutsche Bank AG clients on Wednesday.
Greenspan, the U.S. Fed chairman from 1987 until 2006, also blamed the credit crisis on a "general underpricing of risk" and a [...]

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Mortgage rates are rising as we’ve moved into March. This will probably motivate more prospective home buyers and other borrowers to lift themselves off their fence-sitting position and take action before rates rise further. The rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage now average 6.24 percent, with 0.5 point (fees), according to Freddie Mac, a major [...]

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The January Pending Home Sales Index remained unchanged from December, holding at 85.9, but remained 19.6 percent below the January 2007 reading of 106.8, according to NAR’s latest report.
"This additional sign of a stabilizing market is encouraging, and our members are telling us there’s been a pickup in shopping activity," said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief [...]

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1st Annual Chavez Celebration March     March 14
Teachers, students, and parents from the King Chavez Academies will celebrate the birthday of Cesar Chavez in a brief ceremony describing how he helped to uplift the Latino community. Then everyone will joyfully sing and march around the campus and surrounding streets. 9:30am - 12:30pm.  King Chavez Academies athletic [...]

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Calif. median home price - January 08: $430,370 
Calif. highest median home price by C.A.R. region January 08: Santa Barbara So. Coast $1,135,000
Calif. lowest median home price by C.A.R. region January 08: High Desert $234,310
Calif. First-time Buyer Affordability Index - Third Quarter 07: 33 percent
(Source: C.A.R.)  
Mortgage rates - week ending 02/28: 30-yr. fixed: 6.24%; [...]

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Online posted job vacancies in February grew by only 3 percent from February 2007 levels, according to The Conference Board Help-Wanted OnLine Data Series™ released Monday. The 3,927,500 online advertised vacancies posted in February represent an increase of 17 percent, or 565,000 jobs, compared with January levels, but reflect an expected post-holiday up-tick in employment. [...]

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New home construction starts in California fell 62 percent in January as homebuilders continued to cope with slow sales and the ongoing credit crisis, according to the latest data from the California Building Industry Association (CBIA). Builders pulled just 2,608 permits for single-family homes statewide in January, a 28 percent decline from the previous month.
CBIA [...]

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Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, along with the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO), have agreed to form an independent organization to launch and monitor a new set of loan appraisal standards in an effort to reduce the risk of fraud, among other issues.
The "New Home Valuation Protection Code" establishes new requirements governing appraisal [...]

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