Statewide Average Teacher Salary = $67,871

Red is below state average, green is above state average.

Atascadero – $63,871
Cayucos – $70,833
Coast Unified – $71,170
Lucia Mar – $60,462
Paso Robles – $66,159
SLO County of Education – $60,875
Templeton – $61,970

The average superintendent salary statewide was $159,000.  Almost all local school districts superintendent’s received a higher salary than the state average.

The highest average teacher salary  is Montecito Union in Santa Barbara at $101,066.  King City is $77,437. Taft Union is $78,152.

Data is here

In his State of the Union address, President Obama touched on a plan to help responsible underwater homeowners refinance. Currently, we have the HARP programs (Home Affordable Refinance Program) to help underwater homeowners refinance if the loan is backed by Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae.  However, other underwater homeowners have not had an opportunity to take advantage of the current low interest rates to lower monthly payments. Obama’s statements announce he is working to build a plan to help underwater homeowners who are current on payments to refinance. The plan will encounter opposition by congressional republicans. We will update you as this story progresses.

In January, the unemployment rate fell to 8.3 percent, which is its lowest level in three years. Meanwhile the Dow and S&P had their best January since 1997, rising 3.4 percent and 4.4 percent respectively.  Investors were encouraged by the continued decline in the unemployment rate and unemployment filings.

Last week, CCL loan officer Jason VanDyke wrote an excellent piece about reading between the lines of the Fed’s interest rate announcement and the long term outlook for interest rates. Check it out HERE.  We will be updating important market news (especially as it relates to real estate) throughout the week on our website.

*As always, rates may vary based on factors like credit history, loan amount, loan-to-value, property type, and occupancy.

We’ll upload the January Solds Dashboard in a few days so you can see what the market did in January for individual cities.

Includes San Luis Obispo County – All Residential
(Last months data is also included - January (December))

New Listings – 395 (249)
Back on Market -201 (150)
Price Drops – 362 (272)
Contingent – 187 (145)
Pendings - 343 (275)
Solds - 199 (318)
Expireds - 108 (153)
Inactives – 120 (106)

30 year fixed –

Last week:

3.500 percent (3.612 percent APR)

Today:

3.500 percent (3.582 percent APR)

0.030 cost improvement

15 year fixed –

Last week:

3.000 percent (3.258 percent APR)

Today:

3.000 percent (3.221 percent APR)

0.037 cost improvement

As you can see, the note rate stays the same, but we have seen an improvement in cost. In other words, it is now cheaper to get lower rates. After last week’s brief rise in prices, we are back to record low prices.

Last week we saw a number of important housing numbers released. Generally, the MBA Purchase Applications, FHFA Price Index, and Pending Home Sales numbers suggested an overall positive trend (link), which jumpstarted talk about a march towards housing recovery.

Then, New Home Sales and Median Home Prices were released the next day, and these numbers gave more cause for concern (link).  December new home sales declined below expectations, dropping the month 2.2 percent from November.  December’s new home sales capped off 2011 as the slowest year on record for home builders. Median home prices also dropped in December, making 2011 prices down 12.8 percent from 2010.

Turns out that there is a FAA regulation that allows people to fly remote control airplanes as a hobby but they can’t be used for commercial purposes.  A few years ago, I was looking how to do this since camera technology has progressed so much. I’m glad I didn’t spend too much time (and money) pursuing that.