Urban Living in California

City sponsors Public Participation Workshops for the Ontario General Plan Update September 13, 14, & 16, 2006 ONTARIO, CA — (August 31, 2006).

The City of Ontario is in the process of creating a new general plan – The Ontario Plan – that will serve as a blueprint for Ontario for the next several decades. In an effort to involve the residents of Ontario early in the planning process, the City will conduct three public participation workshops hosted by The Planning Center, a local community planning and design firm. Workshop participants will engage in an interactive “placemaking” process to visualize great places in Ontario. They will also have an opportunity to talk to City staff and the consultant team about the two-year planning process and recent and upcoming development projects. Workshop dates and locations are as follows:

Read the rest of this entry »

Ben S. Bernanke has said that the Fed will increasingly take its cues from economic data.

By EDMUND L. ANDREWS Published: August 27, 2006

JACKSON HOLE, Wyo.

AS recently as two weeks ago, many analysts on Wall Street were warning that the Federal Reserve was overly confident that inflation would decline as soon as the economy began to slow.

Read the rest of this entry »

Annette Haddad, Times Staff Writer
The region’s median price rises 9% in April, the first year-over-year increase in single digits since 2001. Sales decline 21% for the month. An almost-forgotten condition has returned to Southern California’s housing market: single-digit price appreciation.

The region’s median home price rose 9% last month, the first time in 4 1/2 years that the year-over-year increase was under 10%, data released Tuesday showed. Sales took their biggest percentage drop in 11 years.

The figures were the strongest signs yet that the Southland’s housing market is ending its 5-year-old boom.

The experts call it a market in transition. It’s not the same red-hot sellers’ market of the last three years, but it’s also not a buffet of bargains for buyers either. Regardless, neither side seems imbued with a sense of urgency.

Read the rest of this entry »

Courtney Schlisserman

Aug. 30 (Bloomberg) — The U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 2.9 percent in the second quarter, fueled by a buildup in inventories that may point to slower growth in coming months, a government report showed.

The increase in gross domestic product, the sum of all goods and services produced in the U.S., compares with the 2.5 percent gain initially reported on July 28 and a 5.6 percent rate for the first quarter, the Commerce Department said today in Washington.

While second-quarter growth was stronger than initially reported, the economy probably will continue to slow this year as consumer spending and home building weaken and factories scale back production to work off inventories, economists said. Waning demand and the end of the housing boom may persuade Federal Reserve policy makers to keep interest rates unchanged.

Read the rest of this entry »

Average for 30-year, fixed rate drops to 6.52 percent, Freddie Mac says

RUETERS
WASHINGTON – Average interest rates on 30-year mortgages fell for a fifth straight week, according to a survey released by mortgage finance company Freddie Mac Thursday, as data continued to point to a slowdown in the housing market.

Thirty-year mortgages averaged 6.48 percent in the latest week compared with 6.52 percent last week, and were the lowest since 6.43 percent in the April 6 week, it said.

Freddie Mac said 15-year mortgages averaged 6.18 percent, down slightly from 6.20 percent the prior week. One-year adjustable rate mortgages averaged 5.60 percent, also down from 5.65 percent.

“The (Federal Reserve) has acknowledged that it is closely monitoring the housing market as it slows down from last year’s record pace,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist, in a statement.

Read the rest of this entry »