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SATURDAY, Aug. 16

Festival of India — 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. today and Sunday. Festivities include a health fair, dance competition, food booths and crafts. Honored guest is Bollywood singer Anushka – No Sunday parade this year. 39439 Paseo Padre Parkway, at Walnut Avenue, Fremont.

BERKELEY Latest sales from Over 1 Million to Low 300K.
This information is obtained from public county records. (by CCT)

1716 7th St. 94710 7-10 $450,000: 2 Bdrms, 801 sq.ft., 1940

1834 Arch St. 94709 7-10 $685,000: 2 Bdrms, 955 sq.ft., 1936

3020 Bateman St. 94705 7-11 $825,000: 3 Bdrms, 1948 sq.ft., 1936

3300 Claremont Ave. 94705 7-8 $975,000

3045 College Ave. #2 94705 7-11 $337,500: 1 Bdrm, 770 sq.ft., 1964

3154 College Ave. #3 94705 7-11 $488,500: 1 Bdrm, 940 sq.ft., 1919

763 Cragmont Ave. 94708 7-9 $1,050,000: 2 Bdrms, 1497 sq.ft., 1929

1411 Edith St. 94703 7-11 $918,000: 3 Bdrms, 1637 sq.ft., 1922

740 Ensenada Ave. 94707 7-8 $600,000: 2 Bdrms, 888 sq.ft., 1922

34 Florida Ave. 94707 7-10 $1,195,000: 4 Bdrms, 2114 sq.ft., 1927

1542 Le Roy Ave. 94708 7-11 $1,702,500: 4 Bdrms, 2789 sq.ft., 1926

1538 Martin Luther King Jr Way 94709 7-8 $820,000: 3 Bdrms, 1874 sq.ft., 1908

2604 Mathews St. 94702 7-10 $855,000: 3 Bdrms, 2441 sq.ft., 1927

1740 McGee Ave. 94703 7-9 $665,000: 2 Bdrms, 1080 sq.ft., 1926

1306 Milvia St. 94709 7-9 $1,350,000: 2906 sq.ft.

641 Neilson St. 94707 7-3 $744,500: 2 Bdrms, 1437 sq.ft., 1925

1501 Olympus Ave. 94708 7-2 $618,000: 1 Bdrm, 930 sq.ft., 1948

2 Quail Ave. 94708 7-3 $890,000: 4 Bdrms, 2072 sq.ft., 1952

1793 San Lorenzo Ave. 94707 7-9 $860,000: 3 Bdrms, 1885 sq.ft., 1925

1950 Vine St. 94709 7-3 $561,000: 4 Bdrms, 1511 sq.ft., 1948

2224 Ward St. 94705 7-11 $350,000: 1400 sq.ft., 1904

CHICAGO, Aug. 11 /PRNewswire/ — iExplore (http://www.iExplore.com)
announced today their list of Top Ten Summer World Travel Destinations for
Cultural Exploration as determined by vacation purchases of its adventure
and experiential travelers.
1. The Pyramids, Egypt

The largest man made structures in the world and are one of the most
lasting symbols of ancient civilization.

2. Machu Picchu, Peru

Recently named one of the world’s new seven wonders; this remote Inca
citadel has perhaps the most dramatic setting of any ruin in the world.

3. Thailand

Thailand is a rush to traveler’s senses: a bustling, exotic, and vivid
culture that never ceases to amaze visitors.

4. Madagascar

Madagascar, the fourth-largest island in the world is a land unlike any
other. Madagascar is an enticing destination for those who find its lack of
modern conveniences, tourist infrastructure and efficient transport system
an interesting proposition rather than a problem.

5. Great Wall, China

The only man made structure that can be seen from space spans more than
4,000 miles across mainland China.

6. Jerusalem, Israel

The old walled city of Jerusalem, a holy site of Judaism, Christianity
and Islam, is dominated by historic sites such as the Dome of the Rock,
Wailing Wall, and church of the Holy Sepulchre.

7. Taj Mahal, India

The world’s most famous testament of love. This white domed mausoleum
made of the finest stones in Agra, India is the finest example of Mughal
architecture and Muslim art and recognized for its beauty the world over.

8. Tunisia

Tunisia, the smallest country in North Africa, has a lot to offer
travelers including Mediterranean beaches, the Sahara desert, to sets from
the film Star Wars.

9. Vietnam
Only in Vietnam is the past and the present encapsulated so perfectly.

10. Japan Ancient temples and futuristic cities; mist-shrouded mountains and
lightning-fast bullet trains; kimono-clad geisha and suit-clad businessmen:
Japan offers all of this and more.

iExplore offers guided tours to most of the above destinations. Call
1-800-IEXPLORE (1-800-439-7567) for details and pricing.

SEATTLE, Aug. 6 /PRNewswire/ — Despite widely covered housing woes and
significant market data to the contrary, homeowners reveal high confidence
in the value of their own home with even greater optimism for the next six
months, according to the Zillow(R) Q2 Homeowner Confidence Survey(1) of
1,361 U.S homeowners conducted by Harris Interactive(R). Highlights of the
survey are below.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060503/ZILLOWLOGO)

“Not My House!” Sentiment Showcases Wide Homeowner Perception-Reality
Gap Nearly two out of three (62%) homeowners think their home value has
increased or remained the same in the past year. Unfortunately, the reality
of the market is not quite as bright; in fact, it’s getting worse.
Seventy-seven percent of U.S. homes lost value in the past 12 months,
according to preliminary analysis of Zillow’s Q2 Real Estate Market
Reports, due to be released August 12, while only 19 percent increased and
5 percent remained the same. Whether it’s apathy, confusion or just plain
denial, homeowners seem to believe the housing crisis affects every other
home but “not my house,” underscoring a wide gap between homeowners’
inflated perception of their home values and the gloomy market reality.

Read the rest of this entry »

It seems that Stallone has decided to build his retirement home:

Stallone has bought two parcels, one with a house on it for the moment, that will give him a good chunk of lakefront land on which to build a weekend retreat. His main residence reportedly is in Beverly Hills.

He bought a property with 500 feet of lake frontage that was listed at about $5.5 million and the adjacent lot, giving him another 150 feet of frontage, that was listed at about $1.7 million.

The house is old, and it is expected that Stallone will tear it down. The lots have many mature trees and unobstructed water views. From SFCHRONICLE.com

Poor guy… I feel his pain.

After the Harper family used the two-story home as collateral for a $450,000 loan, it’s set to go to auction on the steps of the Clayton County Courthouse Aug. 5. The couple did not return phone calls Monday, but told WSB-TV they received the loan for a construction business that failed.

The house was built in January 2005, after Atlanta-based Beazer Homes USA and ABC’s “Extreme Makeover” demolished their old home and its faulty septic system. Within six days, construction crews and hoards of volunteers had completed work on the largest home that the television program had yet built.

From www.sfgate.com

Foreclosure Activity Up 14 Percent in Second Quarter According to RealtyTrac(R) U.S. Foreclosure Market Report

Activity Increases 121 Percent From Q2 2007
95 of 100 Largest Metro Areas Post Annual Increases

IRVINE, Calif., July 25 /PRNewswire/ — RealtyTrac(R)
(http://www.realtytrac.com), the leading online marketplace for foreclosure
properties, today released its Q2 2008 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report(TM),
which shows foreclosure filings were reported on 739,714 U.S. properties
during the second quarter, a nearly 14 percent increase from the previous
quarter and a 121 percent increase from the second quarter of 2007. The
report also shows that one in every 171 U.S. households received a
foreclosure filing during the quarter.

RealtyTrac publishes the largest and most comprehensive national
database of foreclosure and bank-owned properties, with over 1.5 million
properties from over 2,200 counties across the country, and is the
foreclosure data provider to MSN Real Estate, Yahoo! Real Estate and The
Wall Street Journal’s Real Estate Journal.

“Although much of the fallout from foreclosures is being driven by
rampant activity in a few states, such as Nevada, California, Florida,
Ohio, Arizona and Michigan, most areas of the country are seeing at least
some increase in foreclosure activity,” said James J. Saccacio, chief
executive officer of RealtyTrac. “Forty-eight of 50 states and 95 out of
the nation’s 100 largest metro areas experienced year-over-year increases
in foreclosure activity in the second quarter.

“Bank repossessions, or REOs, accounted for 30 percent of total
foreclosure activity in the second quarter, up from 24 percent of the total
in the first quarter,” Saccacio continued. “This shift in the distribution
of activity indicates that there is a progression toward purging the
problem loans out of the system — at which point the housing market can
regain some sense of normalcy. Of course if another surge in defaults
occurs, which could well happen later this year, it would refill the
foreclosure pipeline and prolong the recovery.”

Read the rest of this entry »

CHICAGO, July 24 /PRNewswire/ — “The recent collapse in the stock prices of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is just one in a series of blows to the stability of U.S. financial markets. The threat created by the failure of these two institutions, however, could be even greater than that posed by the collapse of Bear Stearns earlier in the year,” says Adolfo Laurenti, senior economist of Mesirow Financial, in his July issue of Themes on the Global Markets available at:

http://www.mesirowfinancial.com/economics/laurenti/themes/globalmkts_0708.p

df.

In his July newsletter, Laurenti takes a closer look at the government’s involvement with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in light of the recent collapse their stock prices, predicting some grim outcomes should these two financial giants ever truly fail:

– The number of bank failures would surge and credit conditions would further tighten, as banks struggle to conserve their capital in a market where they could no longer raise capital with the sale of their mortgages.
– Pension funds for public workers would suffer heavy losses, as they invested heavily in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mack debt thinking it was almost as safe as treasuries.

– The dollar would depreciate and push oil prices even higher, as foreign governments also invested heavily in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, thinking it was similar in risk to the treasury market.

For these reasons, the “too big to fail” argument will carry the day, and we already see action by the Congress and the Treasury to step in and rescue the two mortgage giants. Unfortunately, though, the measures now moving through Congress are little more than a band-aid solution, and fail to address long-term issues in the secondary market for mortgages.

“One would hope that policymakers use the current crisis to avert a repeat in the future. We may not be that lucky. Congress is pushing to increase the regulation of financial markets without weighing the consequences of those regulations, and without forcing more accountability on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Indeed, the risk is that the government, and politics, will play too large instead of too small a role in financial markets as we struggle to deal with this crisis in an election year,”
concludes Laurenti.

The July issue of Themes on the Global Markets as well as archived issues can be found at http://www.mesirowfinancial.com.

Mesirow Financial is a diversified financial services firm headquartered in Chicago. Founded in 1937, it is an independent employee-owned firm with $30 billion in assets under management and 1,100 employees in offices across the country. With expertise in Investment Management, Investment Services, Insurance Services, Investment Banking, Consulting and Real Estate, Mesirow Financial has consistently met the financial needs of institutions, public sector entities, corporations and individuals. For more information about Mesirow Financial, visit its Web site at http://www.mesirowfinancial.com.

SOURCE Mesirow Financial

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, Calif., July 15 /PRNewswire/ — On July 17, 2008,
at 10:30am, AvalonBay Communities, Inc., Millennium Partners, the San
Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART), and the County of Contra Costa will host a groundbreaking ceremony for a innovative public/private transit- oriented development, Avalon Walnut Creek at Contra Costa Centre. The four partners are jointly investing $400 million in this residential/mixed-use Transit Village, which is adjacent to BART’s Pleasant Hill station.

Contra Costa County Supervisor Susan Bonilla said: “The transit village will show the rest of California that providing adequate public infrastructure and services that keep pace with growth is the best way to increase density within transit rich locations. By creating a public/private partnership and engaging the local community, Contra Costa Centre and the BART Transit Village are providing over 2800 residential units and employment for 6500 people; and the Pleasant Hill BART station is serving 6500 BART customers daily.”

Ceremony will Mark Start of Transit Village at Pleasant Hill BART Station
Successful Public-Private Partnership Brings Transit-Oriented Mixed-Use
Development to Contra Costa Centre

LOS ANGELES, July 9 /PRNewswire/ — This is a terrible time for home
buyers and the mortgage industry. Interest rates are lower than they have
been in years. Home prices are lower than they have been in years. People
holding substandard ARM’s must refinance now. It is a buyers’ market out
there yet no one is buying. The public is understandably scared to death of
mortgages and the brokers, banks and loan companies that sell them.

Beginning July ‘08, a potential borrower will be able to call their
trusted life, health or casualty insurance agent for their next new home
loan, refinancing or reverse mortgage. Most Americans have an insurance
agent and very often the relationship with that agent is 5, 10 or even 20
years long.

THE WEALTHBRIDGE NETWORK was founded by insurance agents for insurance
agents. Wealthbridge works exclusively with only the finest, highest
quality, financially stable mortgage originators in the United States.

The process is simple. The borrower contacts their local insurance
agent and he or she refers the case to Wealthbridge for contact. A
Wealthbridge Team Member will contact the insurance agent’s client and
immediately begin the loan process. According to Steven Conte, Wealthbridge
President, “Our mortgage originators are so safe that they will provide
guarantees in writing. Should the underwriting process take too long or
should the rate change while in underwriting, the client will be
compensated.” Studies have shown the public is very comfortable dealing
with their insurance agent and through this referral process the anxiety of
shopping for a home loan is reduced or removed completely.

CONTACT: Steven E. Branstetter, CEO (800) 366-5656, Extension 245, 267

The Berkeley Kite Festival coming this July 26th & 27th 2008, 11:00AM – 5:00PM. So, if you have time and want to have some fun, come out to the Cesar E. Chavez Park at the Berkeley Marina. For more info enter here.