Bay Area home sales shot up 28.8 percent in April compared to March, a sign that mortgages are easier to obtain and more buyers jumped into the market, DataQuick Information Systems said today.

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Months after many eager homeowners started gearing up to refinance their mortgages, interest rates for Bay Area-size mortgages are finally falling. Vote: Will you refi? | Search local real estate transactions

More than 1,000 California properties went up for sale in foreclosure auctions each weekday in April, a foreclosure data company said today, staking a grim new milepost for the state's beleaguered housing market.

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