Briefly

* The percentage of households in California able to afford a median-priced home stood at 16% in July, unchanged from June but a 3 percentage-point decrease compared with the same period a year ago, when the index was at 19%, according to the California Assn. of Realtors.

* As many as 360,000 real estate loans valued at up to $48 million could be directly or indirectly affected by the losses from Hurricane Katrina, the Mortgage Bankers Assn. said.