First-Time Home Buyers Prepare for Best Buyer's Market in Recent History

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While affordable housing prices, ample inventories, and historically low interest rates signal ‘buyer’s market’ for investors or move-up buyers in many U.S. markets, inexperienced first-time buyers may not know if the time is right to make a move into real estate.

Local Chef Named a 'Master Chef of France' - Marine Room Executive Chef Bernard Guillas will join the ranks of a prestigious group of chefs this March - La Jolla Patch.

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On March 14 in Paris, Bernard Guillas, La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club’s highly venerated Marine Room executive chef, will be inducted into the elite ranks of the Maîtres Cuisiniers de France(Master Chefs of France).

Gas Prices Top the $4 Mark in La Jolla. Gas prices on Monday rose to the highest point since Aug. 21, 2008.

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The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in San Diego County is now $3.922, seven-tenths of a cent higher than on Sunday, and 85.5 cents more than a year ago.

U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Fall to 368,000, Lowest Since 2008

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Applications for unemployment benefits decreased by 20,000 to 368,000 in the week ended Feb. 26, Labor Department figures showed today. Economists forecast claims would climb to 395,000, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey. The total number of people receiving unemployment insurance fell to the lowest level since October 2008.

Obama admin touts benefits of housing aid programs

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President Barack Obama's signature foreclosure prevention program is helping tens of thousands of borrowers a month and killing it would be a mistake, a top administration official said on Wednesday.

Houses and the Academy Awards

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In films, houses are often metaphors for a state of mind or an idea. Residential settings in two recent Academy Award contenders are especially evocative — and show how design creates a mood. Roman Polanski’s The Ghost Writer stars Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan, Olivia Williams, and Kim Cattrall but the isolated and foreboding modern house by the sea — where much of the action takes place — has an important supporting role. The house where the ex British Prime Minister (Brosnan) works on his memoirs with his ghost writer (McGregor) after the previous writer’s mysterious disappearance.

U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Fall to 368,000, Lowest Since 2008

http://bloom.bg/geJWsB

Applications for unemployment benefits decreased by 20,000 to 368,000 in the week ended Feb. 26, Labor Department figures showed today. Economists forecast claims would climb to 395,000, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey. The total number of people receiving unemployment insurance fell to the lowest level since October 2008.