C.A.R. Mortgage Update: Last week C.A.R. (California Association of Realtors) sent me information regarding changes to the Truth in Lending Act and the potential impacts on borrowers. I think everyone is agreed that the changes are going to further slow the mortgage process. Read more about it here:

Housing Prices to Remain Level? Since the second quarter of 2006, housing values across the United States have fallen by one third. Over a million homes were lost to foreclosure nationwide in 2008, as homeowners struggled to meet payments. The number of foreclosures reached an all-time record last month—when owners of one in every 355 houses in the country received default or auction notices or were seized by creditors. The collapse in confidence in securitized, high-risk mortgages has also devastated some of the nation's largest banks and lenders. The home financing giant Fannie Mae alone held an estimated $230 billion in toxic assets. Even if there are signs of hope on the horizon (home prices ticked upward by 0.5% in May and new housing starts rose in June), analysts like Yale's Robert Shiller expect that housing prices will remain level for the next five years. Read more about it here:

California Housing Affordability Index: Los Angeles has increased from 41 to 56 in just one year.