According to this article and the nice graphs they provide, California is on the plus side.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2009/12/california_two_views

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703510304574626212033033506.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Thats good news. I hope its not a fault positive. If this is true, and housing prices are back on the positive, then it looks like a good time to buy a home.

http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/dec2009/db20091229_335504.htm

That seems like good news, but of course a lot of people were originally trying to close on homes for November 2009's tax credit, before Obama approved the extension. Hopefully those numbers are accurate of the economy improving. This also means, interest rates may be on their way back up soon.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126148828270801485.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection

Looks like a lot of ecomonics are fearing rise in interest rates in the near future, even after Fed's announced after a 2 day meeting that they will keep interest rates near zero for another 45 day period. This seems to have scared the stock market as well, since there's a heavy reaction on the increased US dollar value.

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20091217-711212.html

Hopefully this is good news for home buyers.

http://money.cnn.com/2009/12/15/news/economy/fed_rates/

Looks like they finally figured out the real reason for the issue, bubble in home values. Isn't our government smart. Lets see if the can fix it.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aK_i0u8bqxeE&pos=5

Looks like he'll be holding the interest rates low. Economist think the rates will hold low til mid-2010.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/07/AR2009120703359.html

Looks like FHA may be increase their minimum closing costs from their current 3-5% minimum. I would assume because one of the issues from the housing/financial crash from couple years ago was related to so many loans with 0% down payments. Home purchasers would walk way (foreclose) their homes since they have little vested into the home. By requiring more money vested at purchase, home purchasers will be more vested into their purchase.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-fha3-2009dec03,0,5834812.story?track=rss

They have extended the $8000 tax credit til April 30th, 2010. They also are allowing existing home owners that are replacing their primary residence to qualify for this tax credit. Keep in mind if you need to close the home purchase by that date. If you are starting now, you been find a real estate agent quickly and begin searching for a home. Please read our article about the basics for finding a home for some tips. We recommend giving 3-4 months before date you'd actually like to move into a new home.

http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=204671,00.html