Urban Living in California

While August is first gain in five months, prior month sales revised downward and home prices fall year over year.

September 27 2006: 10:20 AM EDT

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — New home sales posted the first gain in five months in August, the government said Wednesday, but the report also indicated further weakness in the housing market in the form of lower prices from a year earlier.

New homes sold at an annual pace of 1.05 million in August, according to the Census Bureau report. While that’s up from the revised reading of a 1.01 million sales pace in July, it’s down from the original reading of a 1.07 million rate a month earlier.

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By Noelle Knox, USA TODAY

Home prices fell in August for the first time in 11 years, and they are expected to keep falling the rest of the year as sellers accept somber reality and cut their asking prices, the National Association of Realtors said Monday.

As home sales fell for a fifth month, the inventory of homes for sale were the highest in 13 years. The median price of a home dropped 1.7% in August from a year ago to $225,000, first such decline since April 1995.

Sales of existing homes fell 0.5% in August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.3 million, and there was a 7.5-month supply of homes for sale.

“We have a serious correction taking place in the housing sector,” Richard Fisher, Federal Reserve president in Dallas, said in a speech Monday. Last week, the Fed voted again to hold interest rates steady, believing that the economy is slowing enough to keep inflation in check.

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STANDARD PACIFIC HOMES OFFERSWORKSHOPS TO FIRST TIME HOME BUYERS

‘DOING URBAN DIFFERENT’

Other Upcoming Workshops: Saturday, October 7 at 11:00 a.m.

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Cosat Mesa’s 19th Street is Gritty, Hip; City, Business Trying to Build On It

Flash back to Costa Mesa’s West 19th Street in the late 1970’s. Punk Rockers and cowboys mashed it up at the late Cuckoo’s Nest and neighboring country bar Zubies.

The clashes were made famous in The Vandals puck rock anthem “Urban Struggle.”

Both bars went away long ago. Then came Club Mesa, a notorious punk club that wasn’t much better at keeping the peace. In 200 I. the guys behind Memphis Restaurants, operator of Memphis Cafe in Costa Mesa and Santa Ana, bought Club Mesa.

The new owners tore up the urine-stained rugs and found lovely tile underneath the place once had been an upscale steakhouse. They fixed up the club in a few short months and opened five years ago as Detroit Bar, which hosts alternative rock and other concerts.

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City sponsors Public Participation Workshops for the Ontario General Plan Update

ONTARIO, CA — (August 31, 2006). The City of Ontario, together with The Planning Center, a local award-winning, full-service consulting firm specializing in community planning and design, environmental analysis, and educational facilities planning, is in the process of preparing The Ontario Plan – a new general plan that will serve as a foundation for directing growth of Ontario for the next several decades. In an effort to involve Ontario residents and businesses early in the planning process, the City will conduct three public participation workshops in different areas of the city.

The workshops will begin with an open house where residents can learn more about the planning process, ongoing development projects in the city, and ways that they can participate throughout the two-year planning program. The interactive portion of the workshop will focus on the idea of creating and preserving special places in Ontario. Through the workshops and other upcoming events, the City will be developing a new vision for Ontario that will guide the remainder of The Ontario Plan process and the future of Ontario.

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