The Wall Street Journal
Bank of America/Merrill Lynch tweaked its forecast from November, when it expected home prices to fall 3.5 percent in 2012. Now, it expects a modest gain of 0.5 percent, a good sign for the sector that continues limping through its worst downturn in generations.
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http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2012/03/22/elusive-bottom-for-home-prices-near-forecast-says/?mod=WSJBlog&mod=WSJ_Real%20Estate_BLOGSDEVELOPMENTSFEED

The Wall Street Journal

Inventories of homes listed for sale in February role by 0.5 percent from January, to 1.78 million, marking the first increase in nine months, according to data from Realtor.com.

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http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2012/03/14/spring-ritual-returns-for-sale-signs-sprout/

Calif. median home price: January 2012: $268,280 (Source: C.A.R.)
Calif. highest median home price by region/county January 2012: Marin, $694,440 (Source: C.A.R.)
Calif. lowest median home price by region/county January 2012: Tehama, $110,000 (Source: C.A.R.)

Calif. Pending Home Sales Index: January 2012: 102.4, an increase from the revised 93.1 recorded in January 2011

Calif. Traditional Housing Affordability Index: Fourth quarter 2011: 55 percent (Source: C.A.R.)

Mortgage rates: Week ending 2/23/2012 30-yr. fixed: 3.95% fees/points: 0.8% 15-yr. fixed: 3.19 fees/points: 0.8% 1-yr. adjustable: 2.73% Fees/points: 0.6% (Source: Freddie Mac)

California saw the third-lowest yearly housing permit total and the worst yearly total on record for single-family units in 2011, according to the California Building Industry Association (CBIA).

CBIA said a total of 47,015 permits were issued statewide last year for new homes, apartments, condominiums, and townhomes, up 5 percent from 2010 when 44,762 permits had been issued. The 2011 total still was down 28 percent from 2008, which had held the distinction of the third-lowest total on record with 64,962 permits issued. Records began being kept in 1954 with the lowest yearly total set in 2009 with 36,421 permits issued.

According to statistics compiled by the Construction Industry Research Board (CIRB), homebuilders pulled permits for a record-low 21,420 single-family homes in 2011, down 16 percent from 2010. Multifamily permits totaled 25,595, up 33 percent from the previous year.

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Building permits for single-family homes rose 1.8 percent in December to a rate of 444,000 units compared with November, according to a joint release by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development.  Single-family housing starts rose 4.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 657,000.

An estimated 611,900 housing units were authorized by building permits in 2011. This is 1.2 percent above the 2010 figure of 604,600.  Approximately 606,900 housing units were started in 2011. This is 3.4 percent above the 2010 figure of 586,900.

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