Steve Spiro’s Blog

Welcome to this stunning 3-bedroom, 3-bathroom home, offering an array of desirable features. Enter through the beautifully hardscaped brick courtyard, setting the tone for what lies within. Inside, you'll find newer windows and side-by-side sliding patio doors, freshly painted walls, and timeless granite countertops in the kitchen. The kitchen window and a skylight above the…

Southern California home sales were affected by high mortgage rates, with the median home price in San Diego County dropping to $1.02 million in May, a 2.1% decrease from the previous month. Despite this, it marked a 9.6% increase from the same time last year. Sales of million-dollar homes rose by 15.5% year-over-year, while those…

State Farm, insuring 1 in 5 California homes, seeks to raise home insurance policies by 30%, renters insurance by 52%, and condo insurance by 36%. The proposal aims to recoup losses from wildfires and severe weather. The California Insurance Commissioner questions State Farm's financial condition. If approved, the rate hike would increase annual costs by…

California's 'Dream For All' home loan program has conditionally approved second-round recipients for vouchers from a $255 million fund. The program assists homebuyers with up to 20% of a home's value for down payment and closing costs. This year, 1,700 first-generation homebuyers have been approved, aiming to build generational wealth. The state faces high housing…

Researchers from UC Berkeley's Terner Center studied the financial feasibility of building missing middle housing in California. The report concluded that without policies reducing development costs, such housing is not financially viable. The term "missing middle housing" refers to the lack of small-scale housing in the current market. While California has implemented reforms to promote…