From Mercury News:

Real estate update: Seasonally adjusted rays of hope


In a small sign that the nation's housing market might be turning up, sales of existing homes edged higher in November, according to a report today from the National Association of Realtors.
Sales of existing houses, condominiums and co-ops were up 0.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from the month before to an annual pace of 6.28 million homes, the Realtors reported. However, that rate was still down sharply -- 10.7 percent lower -- than in November 2005. And the median home price of $218,000 was down 3.1 percent from a year ago.
The number of homes on the market, meanwhile, dropped 1.0 percent, leaving a supply that would last 7.3 months at the current sales pace.
``It looks like we may have reached the low point for the current cycle in September,'' David Lereah, the Realtors' chief economist, said in a statement. ``We've entered a more sustainable period of home sales now, and we expect greater support for prices over time as inventory levels are eventually drawn down.''
Market conditions are tilted more toward buyers than sellers, Realtors said. Buyers are benefiting from a plentiful supply, relatively low mortgage rates and sellers' willingness to negotiate on price and other terms of a deal, the group said.
Today's news on existing-home sales follows Wednesday's report from the Commerce Department that found unexpected strength in new-home sales. Even so, economists expect more price cuts in the new-home market as builders try to sell off their inventory.
Mortgage rates climbed this week, but 30-year fixed-rate loans still remained slightly below where they were a year ago, according to a report today from Freddie Mac.
The mortgage giant said 30-year fixed-rate loans were at 6.18 percent, up from 6.13 percent last week but down from 6.22 percent a year ago.
``Mortgage rates edged up over the week following news of a jump in consumer spending in November,'' Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist, said in a statement. ```Financial markets were concerned that stronger spending could keep inflation elevated. These worries were further compounded by the releases of new and existing home sales for the same month, which both exceeded market forecasts and caused Treasury bond yields to continue to rise.''
Rates on other popular loans:
• 15-year fixed-rate mortgages: 5.93 percent, up from 5.89 percent last week and 5.76 percent a year ago.
• One-year adjustable-rate mortgages: 5.47 percent, up from 5.44 percent last week and 5.15 percent a year ago.
• Five-year hybrid ARMs: 5.98 percent, up from 5.96 percent last week and 5.76 percent a year ago.
The usual fine print: Here in super-expensive Silicon Valley, where many buyers need jumbo loans, the rate you pay may very well be higher. And most buyers pay up front a percentage of the loan value, known as points.
For more real estate news, check out our Square Feet blog.
A huge legal victory for AMD over Intel, or really not that big a deal? It depends on which Silicon Valley microprocessor maker you ask.
In a statement today, Sunnyvale chip maker Advanced Micro Devices wanted to make sure we all know about Wednesday's ruling by a federal judge in Delaware requiring Santa Clara rival Intel to turn over documents about its international business practices to a court-appointed special master.
``Intel's acquiescence to the special master's findings is a big win for AMD,'' Thomas McCoy, AMD's executive vice president for legal affairs and chief administrative officer, said in a statement.
AMD filed an antitrust lawsuit against Intel in June 2005, contending that the larger chip maker abused its global market power by coercing computer makers not to buy AMD processors. Intel, for its part, has acknowledged it had a huge lead in the market, but has said that's because it was a more reliable supplier.
Intel, meanwhile, told the judge it wouldn't object to the special master's recommendation that it turn over the documents. For that matter, Intel noted that it hasn't been decided yet whether the documents will be admissible as evidence in court.
``There's a long road ahead of us,'' Intel spokesman Chuck Mulloy told Bloomberg News.