California home sales stayed active in October - 2003-11-21
Californians acquired and sold a record number of homes last month for an October, according to DataQuick Information Systems, even though the number was down 5.7 percent from September.

"We didn't expect the numbers to be this strong, clearly there are a lot of buyers out there taking advantage of reasonable mortgage interest rates," Marshall Prentice, DataQuick's president, said Friday.
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Housing Construction Surges in Mesa, Ariz., Area - 2003-11-21
Residential construction nationally attained its highest level of activity in 17 years last month, while activity in the Valley has already beat last year's record.

The U.S. Department of Commerce reported Wednesday that builders nationally broke ground on 1.96 million units, at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, representing a 2.9 percent increase from September's pace. October's activity was the strongest monthly performance since January 1986.
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