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California is in the fifth year of a record-breaking drought that has called for extreme measures. Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in January 2015 and imposed strict conservation measures statewide. Last April, Brown issued an executive order that required cities and towns to cut water use by 25 percent for the remainder of the year. That order was extended in January for another eight months, despite January having seen above-average precipitation.

The 17th annual Silicon Valley REALTORS® Scholars Program for graduating seniors from 18 public high schools in Silicon Valley is under way. The scholars program is sponsored by the Charitable Foundation of the Silicon Valley Association of REALTORS® (SILVAR), a professional trade organization representing over 4,500 REALTORS® and affiliate members engaged in the real estate business on the Peninsula and in the South Bay

Supervisor’s Patrick Kennedy, Phil Serna and Don Nottoli, the Sacramento County Department of Transportation (SACDOT), and Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency (SHRA) are hosting a ribbon-cutting event to celebrate construction completion for the Old Florin Town Streetscape Improvement Project. The project includes various roadway improvements, and streetscape enhancements that help create an attractive pedestrian and bicycling friendly environment that will encourage and support new development along this corridor. 

A diverse coalition of consumer, environmental, faith, agricultural, environmental justice, and business organizations joined together to applaud the California Public Utilities Commission’s (CPUC) decision to preserve net metering, a critical solar policy that gives the state’s energy consumers the opportunity to generate their own energy with solar power.

Pending home sales in California continued to improve from a year ago with solid gains, which will position the market for a modest increase in home sales in 2016, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) said today

The 2016 president, officers, directors and advisors of the Asian Real Estate Association of America Silicon Valley (AREAA SV) were formally installed on Wednesday at Club Auto Sport in San Jose. Representatives from SILVAR, neighboring REALTOR® associations and other real estate professionals in the Bay Area, including AREAA officials from other chapters around the country, attended the event and congratulated the 2016 AREAA Silicon Valley leadership.

Mercy Loan Fund (MLF), a leading Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) based in Denver, Colo., announced that it has partnered with the Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF), to provide affordable housing to people with low incomes in Wilmington, Calif

A man has been charged and is scheduled to be arraigned for vandalizing a religious Sikh temple property in Buena Park. Brodie Durazo, 21, Buena Park, is charged with one felony count of vandalism of a religious property, and two misdemeanor counts each of vandalism under $400. If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum sentence of three years in state prison. Durazo is out of custody and posted $20,000 bail today

A man was sentenced today to 25 years to life in state prison for the strangling murder of his wife in their Irvine apartment. Shalabh Rastogi, 42, Irvine, was found guilty by a jury on Nov. 17, 2015, of one felony count of first degree murder.

“This is a celebration of the people of San Francisco that make our City great,” said Mayor Lee. “With a strong, diverse economy as the foundation for San Francisco’s continuing progress, we will tackle longstanding challenges like affordable housing and homelessness while making historic investments in our schools, transportation system and public safety network. I have dedicated 26 years of service to our City to make sure everyone has a chance to succeed, and I am humbled to be sworn in as Mayor of the ‘greatest City in the world’ for a second term.”

Mayor Edwin M. Lee today issued the following statement regarding the nearly $9 million award from the California Strategic Growth Council’s Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program Fall 2015 Funding Round funded by the State’s cap-and-trade auction proceeds for two affordable housing projects in San Francisco – approximately $2.3 million for the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation Eddy and Taylor Family Housing project, which will develop 103 affordable housing units, and $6.5 million for the Mercy Housing 222 Beale Street project at Transbay Block 7 that will provide 120 affordable residential units

California pending home sales retreated in November primarily due to seasonal factors and delayed escrow closings caused by new loan disclosure rules, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) said today

Silicon Valley's real estate community congratulated the Chinese American Real Estate Association (CAREA)'s 2015/2016 leadership team at its December 4 installation dinner held at Dynasty Seafood Restaurant in Cupertino. SILVAR President-elect Karen Trolan installed 2015/2016 CAREA President Coco Tan and CAREA's 2015/2016 officers and board of directors

HUD Secretary Julián Castro and Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-CA) announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will award the Housing Authority of the City of Sacramento $2,700,000 in grant funding for the Jobs Plus Pilot program as part of a $100 million investment in locally-based programs aimed to increase earnings and advance employment outcomes for residents of public housing through work readiness programs, employer linkages, job placement, and financial literacy. The City of Sacramento Housing Authority was one of only eight recipients nationwide.

California existing home sales fell in November from both the previous month and year for the first time in nearly a year as low housing affordability extended into Southern California, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) said today

As Congressional leaders agreed on an omnibus budget deal without riders to block EPA’s landmark Clean Water Rule, Environment America’s senior attorney John Rumpler issued the following statement

Without a working smoke detector, the risk of a tragic fire increases. The Community Development Department inspects over 4,000 homes annually through the Rental Housing Inspection Program. One item on the checklist is to locate working smoke detectors which is number one on the list of top 10 violations.

Under the leadership of 2015 Global Business Council chair Mark Wong, a REALTOR® with Alain Pinel REALTORS® Saratoga, SILVAR’s global business council conducted a number of activities and education programs to raise members’ awareness of global business in their local market, including programs on China, Mexico, India and the Philippines, as part of its “Doing Business With” quarterly series. Also this year, SILVAR conducted its fourth Certified International Property Specialist (CIPS) Institute, attended by 31 REALTORS® from around the Bay Area, Southern California and Arizona.

Pending home sales bounced back from the previous month at the statewide level in October, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) said today. Pending sales were also significantly higher on an annual basis, portending higher closed escrows in the next couple of months.

Home sales exceeded the 400,000 level in October for the seventh consecutive month and posted higher on a year-to-year basis for the ninth straight month. Closed escrow sales of existing, single-family detached homes in California totaled a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 403,510 units in October, according to information collected by C.A.R. from more than 90 local REALTOR® associations and MLSs statewide.