California Association Of Realtors

Frustrated California renters take heed: A trade group says it's getting easier for people to afford their first home. With home prices in a downward spiral in many once-booming areas, the percentage of California households that can afford to finance an entry-level home increased in the last three months of 2007 compared with the same period a year earlier, the California Assn. of Realtors said Tuesday.

The California Assn. of Realtors said Monday it had sued Blue Shield of California to stop the health plan from canceling its contract and dropping coverage for as many as 8,000 Realtors and family members. The flap is the latest example of how high health costs and changes in the marketplace are eroding the availability of group coverage. "We were abruptly notified -- by mail -- that our insurance coverage was being canceled," said association President Colleen Badagliacco.

A judge ruled Monday that Blue Shield of California could cancel group health insurance for the California Assn. of Realtors, apparently dooming it to the growing list of organization-sponsored health plans that have died in recent years, leaving people uninsured. The association had sued Blue Shield, alleging that it would be illegal for the insurer to cancel the coverage of more than 8,000 people, including real estate agents and family members.

The slow housing market didn't stop Martha Franco and thousands of other real estate agents from attending the California Assn. of Realtors annual convention in Anaheim on Wednesday, but it did factor into how she and others spent their day there. It was standing room only at sessions focusing on foreclosures and other consequences of the slump.

Even Realtors can lose faith in the housing market. Speaking to a gathering of industry professionals Friday, longtime California real estate titan Fred C. Sands called the housing market "pathetic" and said some agents needed to start looking for other work. "If you've been in it for five or six years and are barely making a living, you might want to think about what you were doing before and get back into it -- you can come back in a couple of years," Sands told members of the California Assn.

Leslie Appleton-Young is at a loss for words. The chief economist of the California Assn. of Realtors has stopped using the term "soft landing" to describe the state's real estate market, saying she no longer feels comfortable with that mild label. "Maybe we need something new. That's all I'm prepared to say," Appleton-Young said Thursday. The shift in language comes as debate over the real estate market is intensifying.

The California Assn. of Realtors on Monday predicted another strong year for real estate, with the state's median home price slated to rise 5.6%. But there's a big caveat: It all depends on how far and fast interest rates rise. The same dynamics that marked 2004 -- rising prices, tight supply and stubbornly low mortgages -- are expected to be in force again this year, the Realtor group said in its annual market survey.

The percentage of California households able to afford a median-priced home in the state fell to 14% in August from 18% a year earlier, the lowest level since records began in 1989, according to a report released Thursday. Also, the head of the nation's largest mortgage lender said Thursday that the U.S. housing market may have peaked and regions such as southern Florida and Las Vegas may see a "substantial reduction" in condominium values.

The California Assn. of Realtors has raised $750,000 for its Housing Affordability Fund, which makes grants to home-buying assistance programs and community projects. Since the fund's inception early this year, the group has received $161,000 in contributions from Realtor associations statewide. The balance of funds came from more than 500 individual donors and the association's initial $500,000 donation.