Indianapolis maintained its standing as the most affordable major U.S. housing market for a sixth consecutive quarter in the fourth quarter of 2006, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI), released this week.

Some 89 percent of Indianapolis homes sold in the fourth quarter were affordable to families earning the area’s median household income of $65,100, and the median sales price of all homes sold in Indianapolis during that time was $113,000, down from the $122,000 median sales price in the previous quarter.

Six years ago, when Staci Kellen bought her town home in Lorton, Va., her real estate agent gave her a gift she views as priceless: A home warranty. The gift was particularly valuable on Christmas Day in 2002, when Ms. Kellen’s heat went out at 8 p.m.

“The warranty company stayed on the phone with me until they could reach someone who would come out,” says Ms. Kellen. “Then the subcontractor came out at 11 p.m. to get the heat fixed.”

While not everyone with a home warranty has such a dramatic and positive experience, concern about the hassle and expense of repairing appliances, a furnace, heat pump or water heater can cause some sleepless nights.

The current real estate market conditions provide an excellent backdrop for mortgage fraud. Here are some of the typical factors that open the door to fraud:

_Buyers trying to get into the market before interest rates climb much higher are tempted to cheat to get what they want;

_Financially strapped homeowners with soaring adjustable rate mortgages who may be enticed to bend the rules to get out of a bad situation;

_Desperate sellers unable to find ready and financially able buyers who are lured by fraudsters who offer them a way out.

PENSACOLA BEACH, Fla. — The washed-out hotels, crumbled asphalt and shuttered businesses that marred Pensacola Beach after Hurricanes Ivan and Dennis in 2004 and 2005 are mostly gone — the debris hauled off and the damaged structures demolished or rebuilt.

But real estate agent John Pinzino still cannot find buyers for the homes and condos he has listed along this refurbished stretch of white sands and turquoise waters. Despite a hurricane-free 2006 and what he calls “a strict buyers’ market,” would-be beach dwellers are staying away, primarily because of soaring insurance rates in coastal areas statewide.

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