San Diego real estate blog

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index of 20 cities fell by 15.3 percent in April versus a year ago, according to Tuesday's report. Prices nationwide are at levels not seen since August 2004.

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller narrower 10-city index also declined 16.3 percent in April, its biggest decline in its more than two-decade history. *To read the full post, please visit the San Diego California real estate blog

Recent information released by the California real estate department showed a huge drop in the number of people taking the state examination. In January 2000, the total licensee population stood at 303,000. In the next seven years, the licensee population grew every single month before peaking in December 2007 at 548,959. In 2005, the DRE was administering thousands of licensee examinations a month, setting a record in April 2005 by testing more than 22,000 would-be brokers and salespersons. To put things in perspective *To read the full post, please visit the San Diego County California real estate blog

The U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development released a report showing the rate of May housing starts dropped to the lowest level in 17 years! Single-family housing starts dropped to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 975,000 in May.

The good news is that it seems that the real estate market is very close to a bottom. With all the good buys out there, now may reall be the time to look for the perfect home. *To read the full post, please visit the San Diego California real estate blog

Real estate agents are always supposed to say positive things, like "It's always a good time to buy real estate." Go against the conventional wisdom and you could end up with a hefty lawsuit. One Miami real estate agent blogger found this out when he said something mean about a condo developer in his blog. *To view the full post, please visit the San Diego California real estate blog

According to reliable sources, House and Senate banking committee leaders are close to an agreement on a landmark housing bill on which the Senate might vote on this week. This legislative package would, in part, authorize the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to refinance 400,000 to 500,000 at-risk loans to prevent additional foreclosures. *To view the full post, please visit the San Diego California real estate blog