Lake Tahoe Real Estate - Kingswood

NEW-HOME PRODUCTION DECLINES IN CALIFORNIA New-home production in California declined in October compared with September 2004 and October 2003, the California Building Industry Association recently reported. Builders began construction on 11,159 single-family homes in October, down 10.6 percent from September and 13.8 percent below year-ago levels. Even with the decline, new-home production in the state remains near the high levels of the past few years. Among the state's five major regions, housing starts were higher in October than in September in Southern California (up 10 percent), the San Joaquin Valley (up 7.6 percent) and the Sacramento-Sacramento Valley (up 2.4 percent). Declines were registered in the San Francisco Bay Area and Central Coast regions, down 3.5 percent and 7.4 percent, respectively. Despite the October slowdown, overall housing starts for the first 10 months of 2004 totaled 173,732, up 4.4 from the same period a year ago. California builders are still on pace to construct about 204,000 homes in 2004, the most since 1989.

REVISED FANNIE, FREDDIE LOAN LIMITS FALL SHORT Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac last week announced conforming loan limits for 2005, but the new limits are not nearly high enough to help homebuyers in high-cost states like California. "Once again, although the new conforming loan limits will help some homebuyers qualify for a lower-cost loan, they do not go far enough to benefit most homebuyers in California," said C.A.R. President Jim Hamilton. "The median price of a home in California is 28 percent higher than the new loan limits announced today. Conforming loan limits need to more accurately reflect the cost of housing in California." More than 12,960 families in California will be able to benefit from Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's recent announcement that each will increase its single-family mortgage loan limit from $333,700 to $359,650 in 2005, according to an analysis by C.A.R. The current median home price in California is $460,370, more than 28 percent higher than the new national conforming loan limit of $359,650. In addition, California has 17 counties with a median-home price above the national conforming loan limit.

INCOME GROWTH CONTINUES, SPENDING GROWTH SLOWS Personal income, the total income received by individuals before taxes, increased $61.7 billion, or 0.6 percent, in October 2004, according to a report released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Wages and salaries, the largest component of personal income, increased approximately $30 billion. After-tax income received by individuals and consumer spending both rose in October, increasing 0.2 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively. Compared with September, these increases represent a step-up in income growth and a slowdown in spending growth.

ONLINE PRIVACY LAWS AFFECT REALTORS® who collect consumer information through their Web sites must now post their privacy policies online. To help REALTORS® comply, C.A.R.'s Legal Dept. has released a new memorandum that explains the new requirements, provides a sample privacy policy for REALTORS® to post on their Web sites, and discusses other online privacy laws that affect real estate practices. To view the legal memorandum on privacy policies, please click the link below. For additional information, C.A.R. members may contact C.A.R.'s Member Legal Hotline at (213) 739-8282, or (213) 739-8350 for office managers, broker/owners, and Designated REALTORS®.

Information provided by - C.A.R. Newsline is published by the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®, a trade association representing more than 150,000 REALTORS® statewide.