The Median price of a home has increased to $567,690, up 3.7 percent from a year ago December according to a report by the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® but sales have decreased by 15.3 percent for the same period.

The median price of an existing, single-family detached home in California during December 2006 was $567,690, a 3.7 percent increase over the revised $547,400 median for December 2005, while the December 2006 median price increased 2.2 percent compared with November’s revised $555,280 median price.

C.A.R’s Unsold Inventory Index for existing, single-family detached homes in December 2006 was 6.8 months, compared with 3.5 months (revised) for the same period a year ago.  The index indicates the number of months needed to deplete the supply of homes on the market at the current sales rate.

The median number of days it took to sell a single-family home was 73 days in December 2006, compared with 43 days (revised) for the same period a year ago.

Statewide, some of the cities and communities with the greatest median home price increases in December 2006 compared with the same period a year ago were:  Yucca Valley, 27.2 percent; Pasadena, 21.3 percent; Highland, 18.4 percent; and Big Bear Lake, 16.3 percent.

The Bush Administration’s Identify Theft Task Force is charged with making recommendations to the President on ways in which to protect Americans against ID theft.  The NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® has an ongoing partnership with the Federal Trade Commission to prevent ID theft.  NAR launched the “Deter, Detect, and Defend” campaign over the last year and has distributed thousands of brochures and ID theft prevent DVDs over the past year.

It has been suggested by NAR that the Administration further promote “opting out” of prescreened offers of credit which often leads to opportunities for ID theft. 

Renters are turning online as they search for apartments.  Apartments.com reported nearly 45 million visits in 2006, an increase of 20 percent over 2005, with more than 157 million searches conducted. A Harvard University study indicates that the renter population is expected to increase by at least 1.8 million people by 2015.

The December construction pace was up 4.5 percent from November but down 18 percent from a year ago, according the U.S. Department of Commerce.  Single-family starts decreased 24.7 percent from December 2005, to a rate of 1.23 million units, while starts for multifamily construction rose 3.6 percent to a rate of 350,000.

The construction pace for single-family housing units declined across the nation in December, falling 26.4 percent in the Midwest, 26.3 percent in the south, 23.5 percent in the West, and 14 percent in the Northeast.

The Aerospace Revitalization Act of 2006 was signed into law by President Bush after the adjournment of the 109^th Congress.  The legislation establishes an interagency aerospace revitalization task force to develop a national strategy for aerospace recruitment, training and cultivation.  The legislation recognizes that a skilled and educated workforce represents the most valuable asset of the United States economy.  The task force will seek to maximize cooperation among government departments and agencies to establish partnerships with industry, organized labor, academia and State and local governments.  An important provision of the bill also will publicize available grants, loans and scholarships for those seeking further study in academic disciplines required by the aerospace industry.  Members of the task force now are to be appointed by the President and the Secretaries of various federal government departments.  Meetings should start in the near future with an annual report presentation to Congress after the first year of business.