CNNMoney
According to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index, 75.9 percent of all new and existing homes sold during the fourth quarter 2011 could have been comfortably purchased by families earning the national median income of $64,200.
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http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/15/real_estate/housing_affordability/index.htm?hpt=hp_t3
Calif. median home price: December 2011: $285,920 (Source: C.A.R.)
Calif. highest median home price by region/county December 2011: Marin: $693,880 (Source: C.A.R.)
Calif. lowest median home price by region/county December 2011: Madera: $106,000 (Source: C.A.R.)
Calif. Pending Home Sales Index: December 2011: 91.6, an increase from the revised 82.5 recorded in December 2010
Calif. Traditional Housing Affordability Index: Third quarter 2011: 52 percent (Source: C.A.R.)
Mortgage rates: Week ending 1/19/2012 30-yr. fixed: 3.88% fees/points: 0.8% 15-yr. fixed: 3.17 fees/points: 0.8% 1-yr. adjustable: 2.74% Fees/points: 0.6% (Source: Freddie Mac)
The Mercury News
Paying off a mortgage might sound like an ambitious plan, especially for those who have recently refinanced into a 30-year term. But it’s still smart for homeowners to give some serious thought as to how they’ll pay off their loan; if not in 2012, then sometime.
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http://www.mercurynews.com/real-estate/ci_19731356
San Francisco Chronicle
Six million homes will be repossessed by banks or sold at distressed prices by 2016, according to a Morgan Stanley analyst.
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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/12/28/BU8P1MHBR3.DTL&tsp=1
The number of delinquent mortgages in November rose to 8.15 percent from 7.93 percent in October, according to a report from Lender Processing Services.
That delinquency rate as a percentage of the LPS database of 40 million mortgages declined nearly 10 percent from a year earlier. About 4.14 million homes were 30 or more days past due in November, with about 1.81 million properties more than 90 days past due.
LPS considers a mortgage delinquent when it’s at least 30 days in arrears but not in foreclosure. The company recorded 6.26 million homes either delinquent or in foreclosure last month.
