Centennial Square, in Arroyo Grande is the subject of much debate in the city council these days. The proposed project which is planned to bring in more tourist business to the downtown area, and to expand the city’s facilities at the same time.

Part of the project involves closing a section of Short Street to make way for a pedestrian friendly square, however many of th residents of Arroyo Grande oppose the idea. The city is now asking for a proposal that does not include closing the street.

The project is an agreement with NKT Commercial of San Luis Obispo.

According to a report at SanLuisObispo.com, a project coined the Margarita Area Specific Plan has run into trouble, and much of the planning to add approximately 868 homes to the City of San Luis Obispo has been postponed.

The area of land, off of Prado Road in San Luis is owned by a group of developers that have been planning the project for about 10 years.

The problems aced by the project, including foreclosure, lack of interest, and planning red-tape, are problems that every developer is facing. The demand for San Luis housing in recent years has not been kind to projects of this type.

Mortgage rates have stayed much the same over the past week, hovering around an average of 4.98% according to an MSNBC report. Rates remain slightly higher than their record low of 4.71% from early December.

Rates are hovering around the 5% mark due to the Government’s plan to pump $1.25 trillion into the lagging housing and mortgage market. The current programs are scheduled to end on March 31 of this year.

According to SanLuisObispo.com, the ongoing recession remains in San Luis Obispo County with home sales, and the median price of homes dropping in December.

The median price of homes fell from $400,000 to $390,000, for a 2.5 percent drop.  Home sales dropped 15.6 percent year over year as well in December from 32 homes sold in December 2008, and only 27 homes sold in December 2009.

The market segment that fared the worst in December however was resale condo’s, with almost a 35 percent drop year over year. In December 2008 there were 26 condos sold in the county versus 17 sold in December 2009.  During the same time period the median price of condos dropped 10.3 percent to $232,500.

Despite the apparent grim nature of this news, there is silver lining. With this most recent drop in prices, homes have become just that more affordable in our beautiful county. If there was ever a time to look for a home, now would be the time!