Fast Facts

Calif. median home price - October 08: $311,060 (Source: C.A.R.)

Calif. highest median home price by C.A.R. region
October 08: Santa Barbara So. Coast $860,000 (Source: C.A.R.)

Calif. lowest median home price by C.A.R. region
October 08: High Desert $154,660 (Source: C.A.R.)

Calif. First-time Buyer Affordability Index -
Third Quarter 08: 53 percent (Source: C.A.R.)

Mortgage rates - week ending 12/11/08
30-yr. fixed: 5.47% Fees/points: 0.7%
15-yr. fixed: 5.20% Fees/points: 0.7%
1-yr. adjustable: 5.09% Fees/points: 0.4% (Source: Freddie Mac)

This is, by far, the best affordability index I've seen and interest rates are are the way down (well under 5% in many cases).

Scenic Bodega Bay named among nation's most exclusive small towns

Business Week put together their list of the 32 most exclusive small towns in America and Bodega Bay was included.

Here's the article.

Mortgage applications soar as interest rates fall

Could this be the sign we're all looking for?

The number of home buyers applying for mortgages surged by a record amount last week in response to aggressive federal efforts to lower mortgage rates. Financial lobbyists advocated more of the same to stimulate the housing market.

Mortgage applications more than doubled in the holiday week ended Nov. 28 from the week before, according to a report Wednesday by the Mortgage Bankers Association. The association's index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was up 112% on a seasonally adjusted basis from the week earlier. And the refinance index leapt 203%.

Click here for the article.

How Are Interest Rates Set?

Here's an article that addresses a question that pops up on a regular basis. When we see the Fed lower it's rate and mortgage rates jump, it causes a bit of confusion. Hopefully this will help explain why...

"...home-loan rates are influenced by longer-term economic indicators. The Federal Reserve Board’s benchmark rate, the federal funds rate, is the interest that banks charge one another for overnight loans. And that, in turn, is closely tied to the prime lending rate that the banks charge preferred customers."

For the entire article, click here.