National Home Sales Revealed
In the last month of 2008, home sales, in the United States, fell nearly fifteen percent to a low that has never been seen before. Overall, the year had almost a thirty-eight percent drop in home sales. Read More

Myths Regarding Home Loan Modification
A list dispelling the top five myths regarding home loan modification was recently released by the Federal Loan Modification Center. The list is intended to educate distressed home owners who are facing the prospect of losing their home to a foreclosure. Read More

Pondering the Effect of the New Administration on the Real Estate Market
With only one week under their belts, it is rather premature to pose any specific forecasts regarding the new administration's impact on the current market. Read More

Current Home Design Trends Point to Gray as "In"
Trend watchers are seeing the interior design world place increased emphasis on the traditional: wingback chairs with updated fabrics- even the nail heads are back in vogue. The hot new "cool" color trend is gray, to add a soft backdrop for a movement towards more natural textures. Read More

Alternatives to Buying a Home without a Fixed Mortgage
As it becomes more difficult to obtain a conventional bank loan, an increasing number of prospective home buyers are looking into financing options other than the traditional fixed-rate mortgages. Read More

The Today Show Says San Diego Real Estate is Already Showing Signs of a Rebound
Here's some good news that was discussed recently on the Today Show. The focus was on some of the real estate myths that are out there for buyers and sellers. Several topics were discussed, but the one that stood out was when they were talking about how some people think that now is the worst time to try and sell your home. The myth was debunked by saying that it was not necessarily true for all markets. They went on to say that markets that were hit the hardest like Phoenix, Las Vegas and yours truly, the San Diego real estate market are already rebounding and that if you have been wanting to upgrade your home, now maybe the right time. The logic behind their reasoning is even if you take a loss on your current home by selling it now, you will be gaining when you purchase your new home by getting it at a great price. Read More

San Diego Real Estate Loses More Than 1500 Workers in 2007
California's unemployment rate jumped more than nine percent in December. Due to a drop in consumer spending and the previously stagnant housing market, the jobless rate sunk to its lowest level in nearly fifteen years. Throughout the state of California there were almost eighty thousand employees who lost their job in December alone. Unemployment average for the United States was a bit over seven percent in December. Read More

Recent Survey Shows Americans Want Transportation to be a Priority
80% of American citizens feel that transportation and other types of infrastructure spending should be a part of any economic stimulus package. Results found are from a recent survey which was sponsored by the National Association of Realtors and an organization named Transportation for America. Read More

Mortgage Rates Continue to Drop
Freddie Mac reported on January 19 that the average rate on a 30 yr. fixed fell to 4.96% this week. This is down from a previous record of 5.01% which was established just last week. Rates have fallen for the past 11 weeks. Read More

Proposed Tax Credit Changes Could Boost Home Sales
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) supports changes in tax credits which would offer eligible home buyers a tax credit without a repayment feature. The NAR believes that this change would be a great boost to home sales and in turn help to reduce the amount of inventory clogging the market. Read More

Median Home Prices Continue Their Fall in Southern California
Home prices continued to drop in Southern California through the end of last year. 2008 ended up being at average prices last seen in 2003. The median price for a home in Southern California declined almost forty percent compared to the previous year. Read More

Housing Bidding Wars Reappearing in San Diego
A report came out the other day stating that there are certain markets that are beginning to see a lot of activity and even seeing buyers beginning to compete with one another for a home. One of the markets detailed in the report was, you guessed it, the San Diego housing market. Read More

Foreclosure Update for US & California
There were more than two million homeowners that had to go through some form of foreclosure in 2008. These numbers are up over eighty percent compared to 2007. Read More

Report Predicts Housing Market surge in the New Year
The outlook for 2009 is a good one for the housing market according to ForeclosureS.com. Read More

Bill Focuses on Foreclosures and Housing Market Stabilization
On Friday, January 9, the U.S. House of Representatives was introduced to a bill which focuses on the need to stabilize the housing market. This bill marks the first big step towards an economic recovery. Read More

Nonprofit Organization Calls for Loan Modification by Lenders
A nonpartisan research firm, The Center for Responsible Lending, released a report on Thursday, January 8. The report urges lending organizations to increase the modification of loans which were issued to subprime borrowers. The report stresses this need to control further economic damage. Read More

Real Estate May Still Be the Only Good Investment
The news that came out of the stock market today reminded us that we are not out of the woods yet when it comes to the financial crisis, nor the housing crisis, for that matter. Some experts are claiming that the market will begin to heal around the middle of 2009, but some are saying that we will feel the effects of the current state of both markets for a couple of years. Read More

La Jolla Institute Receives Five Million Dollars
The Glenn Foundation has given five million dollars to the Salk Institute, based in La Jolla, California. The money will go towards an establishment that will focus on the effects of aging. The idea is to look at aging from a molecular level and its foundation will be the top scientists from the Salk Institutes from around the country. Read More

Commercial Real Estate to Becoming Bailout Focus
Commercial real estate, along with municipalities and the auto industry, will see some aid from legislative moves to add more rigid conditions to the governments billion dollar bailout. A new set of the more rigid conditions, or at least the outline, is expected to be released by the day's end. So far, approximately half of the seven hundred billion dollar bailout budget has already been spent. The more strict guidelines are being proposed to help monitor the remaining money and to ensure that it goes to the right sectors. Read More

La Jolla Golden Triangle Rotary Club Donates Ice to San Diego Firefighters
The La Jolla Golden Triangle Rotary Club has announced that San Diego firefighters will be receiving ice machines to help keep them cool when fighting fires. Read More

Housing Market Outlook for 2009
Recently, someone asked me, "How will the housing market do in 2009?". Now I admit that I cannot see into the future, however, some analysts are predicting that this year may not be as bad as some are forecasting. Many even believe that the market will completely bottom during the first half of the year. Fact: If you have been waiting for the right time to buy a home, home prices have fallen more than twenty percent since '06. Fact: As I talked about the other day, rates on a 30 year fixed are at multi-year lows and we will probably see more incentives coming once Barack Obama takes office. Read More

Interest Rates on 30 Year Fixed at All-Time Lows
For nine straight weeks, interest rates on a 30 year fixed mortgage fell. The latest drop is the lowest we have seen in nearly forty years, falling a little more than five percent for the week. In fact, companies like Freddie Mac have not seen these levels since they began the Primary Mortgage Market Survey in the early seventies. Futhermore, this is the third back to back record low for falling interest rates. Read More

Chula Vista Makes Top Ten List of Most Boring Cities
Forbe's magazine has published a list of the ten most boring cities in the nation. The list consists of cities that are adjacent to more established metro areas and grew rapidly during the recent housing boom. These cities are now talking points in conversations due to the increasing foreclosure rates these areas are now experiencing. Read More