The Garden Island has been in tough economic times ever since the Hawaii real estate market bubble burst towards the end of 2008, although it is not the hardest hit of the Hawaiian Islands. The number of foreclosures on Kauai has admittedly skyrocketed since the recession hit, but the situation is not quite as dire as on Maui and the Big Island. According to a July 16, 2009 article in Pacific Business News, a regional financial news publication, “Kauai had one filing per 423 housing units, which was down 11.5 percent from May but up 360 percent over June 2008.” In other words, Kauai has been in serious trouble for the last year, but has recently been improving as a possible result of the considerable injection of federal stimulus money.

Bank foreclosures have had something of a fudging role in measuring the health of the Kauai real estate market, since they tend to leave the market more quickly than conventionally listed properties. This means that the rare bits of positive news in the local news must be taken with a grain of salt - they may be more misleading than genuinely uplifting indicators of economic growth in the real estate sector. For example, the Honolulu Star Bulletin reported on July 7, 2009 that “The quest for short sales and foreclosure properties dominated real estate activity on the Big Island and Kauai last month and continued to drive property prices down in most categories.” In other words, home prices have dropped so low that even mainland investors have started to express interest in Kauai real estate properties.

The Garden Island, which is the local newspaper for the island of Kauai, reported a comprehensive review of the Kauai real estate market that was conducted by the Kauai Board of Realtors. This analysis revealed that condominium prices have declined to price levels that were average about six years ago, while home prices have receded to 2004 figures. It continued to state that “We are in uncharted territory where some of the most accomplished economic experts are having a difficult time forecasting future trends.”

Indianapolis real estate is starting to show signs of recovery after spending a good amount of time reeling from the nationwide recession. Indianapolis has been dealing with a number of problems that have affected many other cities in Indiana as well as the rest of the country. Some notable areas of concern include foreclosures, low home sales, and continued difficulties in acquiring lines of credit. The biggest problem with the Indianapolis real estate market as well as a number of other Midwestern cities is the interaction of different market variables, making it difficult to determine exactly what parts of the market are recovering and which are in a state of further decline.

In the words of Indianapolis Realtor Joyce Moore, “The housing market is beginning to show signs of getting prices back to reality! There are a lot of investors running around with their clipboards, canvassing neighborhoods in Indianapolis to capitalize on the high number of homes for sale in the area due to foreclosures and increased property taxes.” According to the Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of Realtors, just less than 4600 homes have been sold during the year to date, going for about four percent less than the listed price, and staying on the market for about ninety four days. There are currently just over 4200 homes for sale in Indianapolis, along with more than 26,000 properties in the central Indiana. A great deal of these listings are foreclosures and short sales, so the simple number of listings should not necessarily be taken to imply a strong or rebounding market.

Perhaps the largest problem still facing Indianapolis real estate is the high number of foreclosures flooding the Central Indiana market. The Indianapolis state legislature considers the foreclosure crisis to be so serious that it has taken corrective action independent from the federal government's efforts. According to a July 22, 2009 article in the Chicago Tribune, “Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller said those and other efforts involved all three branches of state government and should result in more residents keeping their homes.”

The South Oregon real estate market has been hit hard and late by the still strong economic downturn in the United States. Although South Oregon was not the first part of the nation to suffer ill effects as a result of the collapse of the sub-prime mortgage crisis, it has nonetheless been struck by the recession's ills. As a possible result of the effects of the crisis being put off temporarily, the South Oregon real estate market is now one of the hardest hit regions of the country. South Oregon continues to have issues with a number of problems, especially in the areas of foreclosures and short sales, although a select number of signs in South Oregon and the remainder of the state seem to point toward a possible recovery.

According to a July 16, 2009 article in the Christian Science Monitor, the United States foreclosure crisis has been spreading quickly, and to a number of new states. “The recession can explain some of this shift. Oregon, which saw foreclosures climb 56 percent during the same period, is struggling with the highest unemployment rate of any state except Michigan.” The number of so-called short sales have also been increasing in South Oregon, which is unsurprising since they are usually correlated with foreclosures. This has also artificially inflated the number of sales in South Oregon, further confusing the relevant statistics.

According to a July 21, 2009 article in the Portland Business Journal, “Foreclosure activity rose 15 percent in the first half of 2009 compared to a year ago. Oregon, which has the nation's third highest unemployment rate, ranked No. 11 for foreclosure activity in the first six year months, with 19,053 foreclosures, or one for every 84 homes.” KGW, a news channel broadcasting in Oregon, found that sale prices in Southern Oregon continue to decline, although a number of realtors claim that the bottom of the market may be in sight. In a somewhat contradictory development, although prices continue to decline, and foreclosures rise, new home construction surged a great deal in June of 2009, signaling some hope for further development and a long-term recovery.

The Tucson real estate market is internally inconsistent in terms of whether or not it has entered a full-scale recovery. Different sectors of the market are recovering at different rates of speed, and some are not recovering at all. In general, the commercial sectors of the Tucson real estate market are still struggling against high rates of foreclosure and default, while the residential portion of the market is tending towards some positive signs of a possible recovery. It is difficult, however, to discern what statistics indicate exactly what in the larger scheme of the nationwide recession and economic downturn, simply because so many portions of the crisis are literally unprecedented. Statistics that should have indicated a definite floor turned out to be just the beginning of the drop.

For example, the commercial portion of Tucson real estate has fallen considerably in terms of sales and prices, although experts do not believe that a bottom has been reached. According to a July 22, 2009 article in The Explorer, “With the commercial real estate market in decline, many people wonder if it's hit rock bottom. Not by a long shot, according to the folks at Tucson Realty and Trust. Tucson Realty and Trust offered its mid-year report last week, when company representatives gave their predictions for the local commercial real estate market. According to prognostications, a wave of foreclosures similar to that left people in the home market drowning in a sea of debt and creditors scrambling for the lifeboats is pressing down on the commercial market.”

An article in the Arizona Daily Star noted that, for the residential portion of the real estate market, the pressure of impending foreclosures is so great that it is forcing new home builders to lower their prices drastically just to keep up. According to an online article by Tucson news station KOLD 13 published on July 15, 2009, “Real estate analysts say some sectors of Tucson market improving. While they predict a 'tsunami' of defaults in the commercial real estate market later this year, real estate analysts for Tucson Realty and Trust say there are signs the residential housing market may have hit its bottom locally.”

It is not entirely clear what direction the Nashville real estate market is going to take in the third quarter of 2009 and beyond. There are a number of mixed signals being circulated around the Nashville news media and other sources that fail to provide a definitive prediction for the remainder of the year. Some signs suggest that the Nashville real estate market may have finally bottomed out and may be heading towards recovery, although there are still a number of trouble signs for the region. A good deal depends on the perspective taken - real estate agents are obviously going to embrace the predictions that favor their profession, while news media are likely going to emphasize the harmful and more sensational stories.

According to the Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, a total of 1,783 homes sold during the month of May, which is a drastic decline since the same point in time during 2008. During May of 2008, 2,508 homes were sold, most likely because the first effects of the sub-prime mortgage crisis were starting to be felt. Greater Nashville Association of Realtors President Mike Nichols said “My home sales are consistent with what we have seen throughout all of 2009. Real estate is feeling the same effects as the rest of the national economy. With the recent American Recovery Reinvestment Act of 2009 supported by the FHA, we are hopeful that first-time homebuyers will take advantage of the opportunity to use the $8000 tax credit to help with costs at closing.”

An article in the Nashville Post published on June 29, 2009 stated that foreclosures are still a serious problem for Nashville real estate. “To the welter of recent economic indicators that show the national economy going up, down, or sideways, add one more perplexing number for Nashville. In the past month, after an extended decline, the volume of foreclosure actions filed in Davidson County has abruptly risen to a new peak.” In fact, the Nashville Business Journal reported that local realtors have started efforts aimed at educating agents and consumers about foreclosures and short sales.

The Orange County real estate market is an unusual conundrum. Certain parts of the market are in serious financial trouble, and have been since the economic downturn. However, other portions of the Orange County real estate market have been continuing to flourish and grow regardless of the state of the national economy. The Los Angeles Times reported on July 19, 2009 that “Commercial brokers are swimming in empty space. In a distressed market, the stakes are higher and deals are more elusive.” The articles continues to say that “Nearly 16% of office space in Los Angeles County is sitting vacant as tenants close up shop or move out of expensive properties. Nearly a third of the space around up-market Playa Vista sits empty; office buildings in the Inland Empire and parts of Orange County are completely vacant.”

On the other hand, the Orange County Business Journal reported on July 6, 2009 that “The West County industrial market continues to chug along and hold on to the momentum of previous quarters, despite the general market slowdown. With the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles receiving about 40% of the nation's shipped goods, trade, and warehousing continues to be strong in this market.” This continued strength is most likely explained by the continued necessity of shipping regardless of the prevalent economic status of the country. Items such as food and clothing have to be shipped across the ocean between America's trading partners and ourselves, as well as vice versa.

Foreclosures have been steadily dropping as a share of the market, which is a positive indicator for the overall status of Orange County real estate. According to an article in the Orange County Register, “DataQuick reports that Orange County foreclosures made up just 29% of all home resales in June, the lowest percentage in more than a year, as banks fall behind in bringing delinquent loans to foreclosure and demand rises for discounted foreclosures.” In another positive sign for Orange County real estate, “Southern California home prices may have finally hit bottom, with median values rising last month for the first significant increase in two years”, as reported by the Los Angeles Times on July 16, 2009.

The Tennessee Real Estate Market has been and continues to be relatively lucky in terms of the effects of the sub-prime mortgage market and overall economic recession. According to a July report by the California company RealtyTrac, Incorporated, Tennessee was below the median rate of foreclosures during the second quarter of 2009, which consists of April, May, and June. Tennessee was number twenty one in the United States, with a rate of one foreclosure per 260 housing units, for a total of just under ten thousand five hundred foreclosures. Unfortunately, these figures represent a 1.1% increase over the first three months of 2009, although they are a substantial drop, almost 13%, since one year ago. This would seem to indicate that Tennessee may be entering a recovery period.

The retail or commercial sector of the Tennessee real estate market has shown several signs of strength and recovery in the last few months. According to Laura Trezevant, Principal of Trezevant Commercial Brokerage, Incorporated, “I'm seeing more of my clients ready to expand in this market. A tight lending market has impacted retail real estate purchases...I'm feeling very optimistic that we've hit the bottom.” The industrial section of the Tennessee real estate market is not in such great shape, however. According to Dan Wilkinson, Chairman of Colliers Wilkinson Snowden, “There's still activity and I don't think it's any more than what we've had over the past 3-4 months. Some companies are looking for large blocks of space in the Memphis market, but nothing is happening anytime soon.”

Xceligent, Incorporated found that there are still 1.5 million square feet of available sublease space, representing a total of 13.3% vacancies. An article in the July 17, 2009 Memphis Business Journal found that “The residential real estate market has bounced along the bottom for so long, industry real estate and housing professionals believe the only direction it can go now is up.”Glenn A. Moore, President-elect of the Memphis Area Association of Realtors, said that “I feel that we have reached a regular, sustainable pace in activity in the residential market; that is the first factor I've watched for in our industry's recovery and feel we have reached that point.

The Valley Island of Maui was devastated by the bursting of the real estate bubble in the Aloha State. The economic recession of late 2008 added to the inevitable decline of the Maui real estate market, along with the larger Hawaii real estate market. Pretty much every component of the Maui real estate market rapidly flat-lined and then nosedived once the downturn arrived, and the situation has not improved appreciably since then. While the Honolulu Advertiser and KHON2 have repeatedly reported that the economic conditions in the heart of the Aloha State, Honolulu and Oahu, have been steadily improving, Maui has had no such luck in the last year. With every news report and economic analysis, Maui has been in deeper and deeper financial waters.

The Irvine, California company RealtyTrac conducts regular analyses of the real estate market in Hawaii, and found dire news for the Maui real estate market on  July 16, 2009 as reported by Pacific Business News. According to the article, “Maui fared the worst in June, with one filing per 393 housing units, down 3.5% from May but up 511 percent over June 2008.” This is compared to much larger improvements month over month for the other islands, and generally smaller increases since last year. In itself, this is not catastrophic news, but when combined with the continuously declining rates of real estate sales and prices it paints a very dire picture for the Valley Island.

Both condominium and single family properties in Maui have been in crisis for almost a year. According to a July 8, 2009 article in the Honolulu Star Bulletin, “Maui's single-family home and condominium market continued descending in June, according to statistics released yesterday by the Realtors Association of Maui.” The Maui News reported even worse statistics a couple of days later on July 10, finding that “Halfway through 2009, Maui real estate is nearly 57 percent of the size it was in the same period last year.” Real estate agents have also been reeling financially from the crisis, taking in thousands of dollars less than they  ordinarily would.

The state of Michigan and the Michigan real estate market were among the hardest hit areas when the real estate bubble collapsed in the second half of 2008. The economy of Michigan was already reeling before most of the nation felt the effects of the recession, because of the nature of the state's financial forces. Michigan's most populous city, Detroit, is the center of the American auto industry, which has been in serious economic trouble for the last decade at least. Detroit has been losing jobs for several years, a fact which only exacerbated the recession once it struck. Michigan's foreclosure rate skyrocketed, home sales dropped dramatically, and sales prices fell like a rock. Michigan's real estate market was in trouble then, and continues to have issues to the present day.

The rate of foreclosures in Michigan is a good indicator of overall real estate health for the region, and gives a mixed picture for the region. The Lansing State Journal reported on July 16, 2009 that “The pace of foreclosures in mid-Michigan may be slowing, though they are sharply higher than a year ago. Irvine, California-based foreclosure activity tracker RealtyTrac Inc. reported there were 686 in Ingham, Eaton and Clinton counties in June - a 70.2 percent jump from June 2008 but a 2.7 percent rise from May.” Coldwell Banker Realtor Bob Hubbell said that “in June we saw an increase in business, both in closed and pending business, which was good....but we continue to see lower property values.”

The Lansing State Journal reported on July 5, 2009 that the rate of foreclosures has reached such a blistering and unsustainable pace that there are entire businesses springing up around the idea of maintaining uninhabited foreclosed houses. There seems to be something of a positive trend in northern Michigan real estate, as reported by 9 & 10 News on June 23 of 2009, which stated that “Existing home sales are on the rise across the country, and right here in Northern Michigan. The National Association of Realtors said today that last month marked the first back to back monthly increase in sales since September of 2005.

The Chicago real estate market is in a somewhat unusual situation - the region was especially hard hit at the outset of  the recession, but has started to inch upwards towards improvement in recent months. One reliable indicator of Chicago real estate is the level of foreclosures in the city and its suburbs. According to a July 16, 2009 article in the Chicago Sun Times, “The number of homes hit with foreclosure filings in Cook County in June spiked 23 percent from a year earlier, but dropped 17 percent from May, RealtyTrac said in its monthly report released Wednesday.” In other words, the real estate market in the Windy City is in much worse shape than a year ago, but is starting to inch upwards towards stability compared to last month.

It is somewhat difficult to gauge overall statistics regarding home sales in Chicago because of the diluting effect of foreclosures on the market. According to Clear Capital, a real estate valuation and analysis company, “In the past 90 days, 43 percent of home sales in Cook county have been bank-owned foreclosures.” An article in the Chicago Tribune found that “Foreclosures, meanwhile, continue to roil the market, being scooped up more quickly and cheaply than traditional listings.”The high rate of foreclosures also helps to explain artificially deflated prices and days-on-market statistics that seem much lower than they should be naturally.

The Chicago Sun Times reported in a June 23, 2009 article that “Home sales and median prices plummeted in May from year-ago levels in the city of Chicago, metropolitan area, and statewide, the Illinois Association of Realtors said today.” On the other hand, a comparison of prices from month to month found a slightly brighter picture, as the Chicago Tribune reported on June 24, 2009 that “sales of existing homes in the Chicago area posted the fourth consecutive monthly improvement during May.” A later article in the Tribune stated on July 18, 2009 that “Tax credits dangled in front of first-time buyers caused builders to pour more foundations for homes last month and made for a slightly more optimistic report on the housing market Friday.”