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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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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Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke yesterday called for a more aggressive response to the nation’s housing and foreclosure crisis, suggesting that lenders do more to help struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure and, in turn, help stave off further erosion of home prices in distressed areas and the broader economy.
"This situation calls for a vigorous response," Bernanke [...]

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Beginning next month, MGIC Investment Corp., the country’s largest mortgage insurer, will reduce its exposure in weak housing markets by requiring at least 5 percent down on homes in what it calls restricted markets.
These markets include the entire states of Arizona, California, Florida, and Nevada, as well as the metropolitan areas of Washington, D.C., Detroit, [...]

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Freddie Mac reports a jump in the 30-year fixed mortgage rate to 5.72 percent during the week ended Feb. 14, from 5.67 percent the prior week.
Interest on 15-year fixed loans, meanwhile, climbed to 5.25 percent from 5.15 percent over the same period.
Rates dropped, however, for five-year adjustable mortgages to 5.19 percent from 5.21 percent; while [...]

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Six major lenders have agreed to allow seriously overdue home owners to suspend foreclosures for 30 days, giving them time to work out affordable loans.
The plan called Project Lifeline is being announced today by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Initially, the pilot program will involve Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., Countrywide Financial Corp., [...]

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Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told the Senate Banking Committee on Feb. 14 that the central bank is likely to make fewer rate cuts in the immediate future.
Over the past six months, the Fed has cut rates by a total of 2.25 percentage points; but the aggressive moves have not done much to alleviate the [...]

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Roughly half of metropolitan areas continued to show rising home prices in the fourth quarter of 2007, according to the latest quarterly survey by the National Association of Realtors®.
In the fourth quarter, 73 out of 150 metropolitan statistical areas(1) show increases in median existing single-family home prices from a year earlier, including 11 areas with [...]

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Calif. median home price - December 07: $475,460
Calif. highest median home price by C.A.R. region December 07: Santa Barbara So. Coast $925,000
Calif. lowest median home price by C.A.R. region December 07: High Desert $244,330
Calif. First-time Buyer Affordability Index - Fourth Quarter 07: 33 percen
(Source: C.A.R.)  
Mortgage rates - week ending 02/14: 30-yr. fixed: 5.72%; [...]

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The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.5 percent in January, the U.S. Dept. of Labor reported today. January’s CPI level of 211.080 represents a 4.3 percent increase from January 2007, an increase largely fueled by a hike in food costs. The CPI for urban wage earners and clerical workers rose 0.5 percent in January to [...]

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