Urban Living in California

MADRID, Spain (AP) — On a weekend of street rallies in Spain — Basques demanding independence, right-wingers nostalgic for the late Francisco Franco, pyramid-scheme investors who lost bundles — on Sunday it was time for sheep to come forward and bleat.

A 700-strong, bell-tinkling flock meandered through stately downtown boulevards — now home to McDonald’s, Starbuck’s and such, a far cry from the very old days of inns and straw — in a demonstration called by farmers who say urban sprawl is eroding ancient routes used to transport the woolly critters from one pasture to another.

The pungent-smelling protest, also featuring donkeys, horses and humans in old-fashioned garb from rural areas of Spain, was in its 14th year and called on authorities to protect Spain’s 78,000 miles (125,000 kilometers) of paths used for seasonal movement of livestock from cool, highland pastures in summer to lower-lying ones in winter.

Some of the paths are 800 years old. Madrid lies along two of the north-south routes. One of these dates back to 1372, and at least on paper it runs through the Puerta del Sol — the bustling plaza that is Madrid’s equivalent of New York City’s Times Square.

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Government ‘impact’ costs are a too-heavy burden, contractors say. By Diane Wedner, Times Staff Writer November 26, 2006

Builders, no strangers to the escalating costs of construction materials, have something else to feed into their calculators: the ever-rising fees for complying with government mandates.

“Fees,” said Mike Dwight, vice president of Hesperia-based Frontier Homes, “are the bane of our lives.”

In an era of fewer federal, state and local dollars, city governments annually are charging developers more annually to pay for infrastructure than ever before. The fees are used for schools, parks, grading and sanitation, to name a few. And they sometimes double from one year to the next.

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The percentage of first-time homebuyers in Orange County able to afford a median priced home stood at 22% in the third quarter, down from 24% a year earlier, the California Association of Realtors said Monday.The third quarter figure was a 1% increase from the previous quarter.

The minimum household income first-time buyers needed to get an OC home at a median price of $599,280 in the third quarter was $123,800, based on an adjustable interest rate of 6.58% and assuming a 10% down payment.

The monthly payment for a $599,280 home, including taxes and insurance, was $4,130 for the third quarter.

On a statewide basis, 24% of first-time homebuyers now are able to afford a median-priced home, compared to 28% for the same period a year ago,

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By ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writer Advertisement

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The number of Californians who could afford an entry-level home as their first housing purchase fell to 24 percent in the third quarter amid rising mortgage interest rates, a trade group said Monday.

The figure represents a 4 percent decrease from the same quarter a year ago, the California Association of Realtors said.

The housing affordability index for first-time buyers is calculated by determining the minimum household income required to make a 10 percent downpayment on an entry-level home and secure an adjustable mortgage interest rate loan at 6.58 percent.

An entry-level home was defined as one priced at about 85 percent of the median home price. The median price of a California home was $563,190 in the third quarter, making the entry-level price $478,710, the association said.

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Lots for homes at The Strand at Headlands, a 121-acre Dana Point project several years in the making, were sold with a bang this month.

The first batch of 25 undeveloped lots at The Strand sold for $148 million, setting a number of land sale records for Orange County.

The three-day sales process exceeded already lofty projections, both in terms of revenue and interest, developer Sanford Edward said.

The lots, each one-fifth of an acre, went for an average of $5.9 million apiece. The nearly $30 million per acre price is about five times the price per acre seen at the county’s most expensive lots in places such as Irvine’s Shady Canyon.

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