As one of the wealthy communities in Orange County in Southern California, the  Up had high values at its peak but suffered great falls in the aftermath of the collapse in the U.S. housing market and the subsequent recession. As a smaller market, the community's figures can fluctuate greatly from month to month if there are a few high- or low-priced sales.

Recently, real estate in Mission Viejo has managed to stabilize a bit, with increases and decreases in value coming at much smaller clips, and not double-digit declines as in the past. For a 22-day period ending in mid-October, sale prices of homes for sale in Mission Viejo were up in one of the city's ZIP codes to $475,000, a 3.3% increase from the same figure in 2008. The city's other ZIP code, however, saw a decline in price of 7.2% to $450,000, according to figures from DataQuick reported by the Orange County Register.

Though prices haven't seen major rises, home sales are up significantly in Mission Viejo, a positive sign for the market. Sales in the 22-day period ending in mid-October were up by 18% and 38.8% in Mission Viejo's two ZIP codes. Much of the increased activity may be due to homebuyers looking to take advantage of the government's program that promises certain first-time buyers up to $8,000 in rebates to boost activity in the housing market.

Those sales figures for the month of September were up by 38.3% and down by 5.5%, according to DQ News, which shows that the market in Mission Viejo's ZIP code with the decline in sales in September looks to be picking back up.

Based on the Case-Shiller index, Moody’s Economy.com forecast the the 10 best and worst markets between the fourth quarter of 2008 and the fourth quarter of 2013, and it placed Tacoma as the No. 1 best market in the next few years,  predicting it will rise by more than 20%, an encouraging sign for those looking to get into the Tacoma real estate market. http://moneywatch.bnet.com

The market for real estate in Tacoma has been more insulated than many markets on the West Coast, though it has still suffered several setbacks, withstanding its fair share of price drops, inventory gluts and upticks in foreclosure filings. According to the Seattle Times, foreclosure activity in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue area has risen by 37.8% between 2009's third quarter and the same period in 2008, an unsettling fact that places a large new amount of homes on the market.

According to RealtyTrac, there are currently more than 2,230 foreclosed homes for sale in Tacoma, with an average sales price of just over $163,500. According to the News Tribune, over the summer, sales picked up in the Tacoma area, with sales in June up 27% to 1,341 and the median price at $230,000.

Many attributed the increase in the uptick in sales recently to buyers hoping to get in and cash in on the government's stimulus package program that will provide rebates of up to $8,000 for qualified first-time home buyers. That program is set to expire Nov. 1, but many are urging Congress to extend it and even widen the scope to help keep the real estate market afloat.

Located in a notable and exclusive community in Southern California, the Newport Beach real estate market has been partially insulated from some of the worst effects of the crumbling U.S. housing market because its price levels are so high and its residents so wealthy when compared with typical Americans. However, the market has not been completely cut off from the larger problems in the U.S., and real estate in Newport Beach has suffered over the past two years.

Though real estate values in this Orange County city are down from their highs, they still top the national list. The September price comparison survey conducted by Coldwell Banker found Newport Beach to have some of the top 10 most expensive homes in the country.  www.laobserved.com Newport Beach residents have suffered dwindling values in their assets and some have even been forced to be foreclosed upon, with more than 300 foreclosed homes for sale in Newport Beach in September.

Figures from August of this year showed the median price for a home in Newport Beach ranging from nearly $850,000 to $4.3 million, with varying median prices by ZIP code. The areas in Newport Beach with the highest pre-crash real estate values have seen the largest decline in prices: A Newport Beach ZIP code with a median home price of just over $1 million has seen that median price down by just under 8% for the year. However, the part of the city with the highest values, in the $4 million median price range, has found its median prices losing as much as half of their value over a year, according to DQ News.

This decline in prices has attracted many buyers to the Newport Beach area who previously were unable to afford to get in on the market, however, so the overall pictures of the sales in the market is sound. Many sellers have also been prompted by the government's stimulus program to offer rebates of up to $8,000 to qualified first-time homebuyers. Others are simply look to make an investment in a high-value area, hoping the homes will eventually retain higher values and pay off, particuarly as homes in the area have fallen around an average of 20% from the peak highs in 2006.

Located in California, the state with some of the hardest-hit real estate markets in the country, the Palo Alto real estate market is a high-priced market that has seen some falls in real estate prices since the U.S. housing market bubble burst. Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, Palo Alto seems to be faring at least better than many of its neighboring cities in the Bay Area.

The city is helped out by the fact that it is home to many major high-tech companies and Stanford University. Though education and technology have suffered some from the financial crisis, the industries have not been hit nearly as hard as those like media or autos. According to the San Jose Mercury News, home sales in Santa Clara County, in which Palo Alto is located, rose by 17% year over year in September 2009. Median prices were down by about 2% month over month, though, and the median price was down 8% year over year, even if sales were up. The lower prices of homes are actually what is prompting the uptick in sales, many experts say, as buyers looking for deals scour this high-priced market.

The Coldwell Banker Real Estate's 2009 Home Price Comparison Index ranked  real estate in Palo Alto as being the fourth most expensive in the country, with a 2009 average sales price of $1.49 million.  The median price for a single-family home in Palo Alto was $1.59 million, as of October 2009. Average properties were on the market for about 95 days and the median price per square foot was $829. Foreclosures in Santa Clara County represented 27.2% of all homes sold in September, up from August's 26.4%, according to the Mercury News.

According to data available on Yahoo! Real Estate, the median price for homes for sale in Palo Alto was down 3.3% since September, and there were 264 homes on the market. Additionally, there were 67 foreclosed homes on the market, with a median price of about half of regular homes at just over $582,000, an uptick of 1.8% since September.

Though situated in a state thousands of miles away from the mainland, the Waikiki real estate market's distance is not enough to keep it immune from the averse affects of the economic crisis and the recession on the housing market. Pre-crisis, Hawaii had some of the highest real estate values, some of which were then forced to come tumbling down with the crisis.

Waikiki real estate Realtor Jeff Manson reports that the median price for a condo sold in Waikiki was $267,000 in September 2009, an improvement upon 2008's September price of $248,000 by 7%. However the number of sales was actually down by 5% year over year in September, from 56 to 53.

According to the Star Bulletin, the number of sales in Hawaii during the second quarter of 2009 indicated the market is still falling and has yet to reach the bottom. "For a year now, the West Coast has seen continued erosion in pricing but increased velocity of sales," Marty Frame, general manager of Cyberhomes.com, a division of Lender Processing Services Inc., told the Star Bulletin. "That trend has started to move across the mainland, but we aren't seeing it in Hawaii." Likewise, real estate in Waikiki reflects this greater trend, as home values have cascaded since the crisis began and foreclosures have skyrocketed.

Single-family home sales in the state were down 37.8% from the last quarter, though median sales prices for condos and single-family condos for sale in Waikiki was up 10.2% for the quarter, and steady year-over-year. http://www.starbulletin.com/business/

The Savannah real estate market in northern Georgia may be well off of where it was at its peak, but local real estate experts say they think the market may be in a stabilization period, finished with continual large drops in prices and volume. But the market for real estate in Savannah is not what it was before the financial crisis hit the U.S.

According to the Savannah Morning News, the average sales price for homes for sale in Savannah in August dropped to just over $197,000, the first time the figure dipped below the $200,000 mark since April. The News quoted local realtors as saying these prices, between $197,000 and $210,000, are probably the "new normal."

Current inventory in the three-county Savannah region remained steady, with an increase of just 12 houses to 5,399. One troubling fact is that new listings of homes for sale in Savannah are outpacing sales by 2 to 1, helping that large inventory to build up. The area's current inventory is considered a stock of 17.5 months, much higher than the national average of just 7.8 months. Many of the homes coming to the market are the result of higher rates of foreclosure in the area.

Though prices are down and inventory is up, sales volume has actually shown positive signs, largely spurred on by the government's housing stimulus program, which provides up to $8,000 in tax rebates to qualified first-time home buyers. Home sales in September were up by 9.4% and stood at their highest level in more than two years. Western Chatham County, in particular, has seen a spike in sales, further abetted by a USDA program hoping to speed up sales in rural areas.

Though the Midwest has been struggling since the onset of the financial crisis, with a regional unemployment rate hovering near 10%, in September, the area showed some signs of improvement in the housing sectors as home sales rose 5.8% over sales volume last September, propelled by a tax credit worth up to $8,000 to select first-time home buyers that expires in November. According to an Associated Press article in The New York Times, the median sale price for a home in the Midwest, however, was still down 1% to $147,600, though that slight decrease was the smallest decline across the nation.

Locally, the Indianapolis real estate market is a reflection of the trends across the Midwest, experiencing many of the same ups and downs as the region at whole. According to the Indianapolis Business Journal, sales volume of homes for sale in Indianapolis was up 12% in September year-over-year in the nine-county greater Indianapolis region. Volume rose to 2,160 from 2008's 1,929, the IBJ said, citing figures from a report released by Indianapolis real estate brokerage F.C. Tucker Co.

Pending sales, however, were down 5% through September compared with those nine months in 2008. The average sale price in the area was down as well as prices of real estate in Indianapolis continue to drag down in search of a bottom. The average sale price for the area was just under $139,000 in August. No county in the nine-county region reported an increase in average home sales prices, suggesting that the market still needs room to stabilize before it will begin to rise again.

Much of the increase in activity was credited with first-time home buyers looking to take advantage of the government's program to allow a federal tax rebate of up to $8,000 for qualified buyers. Marion County, which includes the city of Indianapolis, saw September's pending sales rise 13.4% from 2008's sales figures, from 920 to 1,043. 

The North Carolina real estate, which ranges from homes in suburban areas to condos and homes in cities like the Research Triangle of Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, capital-city Raleigh or banking center Charlotte, to homes on the countryside and in the mountains. Over the past several months, most of the markets in this state have suffered with the downtown of the U.S. economy and the nationwide housing slide. Most recently, figures show that real estate in North Carolina may be at or near a stabilization point, as drops in key figures are slowing or even turning back positive.

According to figures compiled and released by the North Carolina Association of Realtors, overall, sales volume in September of this year was down just 1% from sale figures from last September, but down 4% from this August's higher volumes. The average sales price of homes for sale in North Carolina was also down again by 7% in September, from nearly $212,000 in 2008 to this year just over $197,000. The total amount spent on home sales in the month of September was also down by 8% from the previous year.  National figures showed home sales volume up by 9.4% according to The Associated Press, but by and large North Carolina has not seen these positive increases other areas have experienced.

Though sales are still sluggish and prices are still sliding, not all markets experienced only bad news. Sales volume in Asheville and Brunswick was up 23% year over year. Greenville saw an uptick in sales of 20%, Hendersonville of 25% and Jacksonville, near the coast, saw a surge in sales by 55%, from 220 sales during September of last year to 341 this year. Areas dragging down the sales figures included Pinehurst, which saw a fall in sales of 23%, Haywood, which saw a drop of 15%, Fayetteville, down 18%, and the Charlotte area, off by 13%. Average sale prices were down in all but six of 21 areas in the state.

The Santa Barbara real estate market has suffered many of the setbacks other real estate markets across the country, especially on the West Coast, are experiencing right now due to the financial crisis. The city has seen an increase in foreclosures as residents have seen their assets dwindle and many have lost their jobs due to layoffs or company shutterings.

According to the Santa Barbara Edhat, the average cost per square foot of a home in Santa Barbara (for those homes under $900,000) has dropped to $517 from $830, from 2005 to today, a drop of 38%. The Goleta neighborhood has seen a fall from $666 in 2005 to $495, a 26% fall while Carpinteria's price per square foot has fallen to $392 from $611, down by 36%.

Current homes for sale in Santa Barbara are going for a median sales price of just over $800,000, down from their high point of more than $1.4 million in 2007, but up from 1999's low of $450,000. That puts the current prices off the highs by nearly 30%, meaning many residents have lost substantial value to their homes, but also allowing new segments of the home-buying population to get into Santa Barbara who couldn't afford it before.

In August, there were 38 homes sold in Santa Barbara, with an average sale price of just over $716,000. The market does seem to be stabilizing at these levels, at least, and it's safe to say that real estate in Santa Barbara will be lower priced than its high levels for at least several years. Additionally, condo sales prices for 2009 are selling at a median price of $467,000, with a three-and-a-half months' supply currently available.

Notoriously known nationally as one of the hardest-hit housing markets of all states in the U.S., real estate in Michigan has truly suffered since the beginning of the financial crisis, crippled heavily by the downfall of the market in its largest city, Detroit. Prices have fallen drastically across Michigan, where foreclosed homes can now be routinely found for less than $10,000. But though the market here has clearly been a problem the state has been dealing with, the question remains whether the market has already hit its bottom.

The answer, according to some statistics pointed out by the Gaylord Herald Times in Gaylord, Mich., is that the worst may be over. The number of homes for sale in Michigan that have closed in 2009 is up by 20% year-over-year, many probably a result of the government's tax incentive program to give rebates of up to $8,000 to select first-time homebuyers who meet specific qualifications.

However, a further look at these seemingly positive statistics still shows room for worry. Over 2009, though volume is up tremendously, prices are down nearly just as much, with the average sale price down by 23% year over year. http://www.gaylordheraldtimes.com

Foreclosures have been another problem plaguing the state since the housing crisis began, with homeowners unable to pay their mortgages taking a big hit on the Michigan real estate market. In the third quarter of this year, The Detroit Free Press reports, foreclosure activity was up by 22%, putting the state of Michigan in the top 10 nationwide for foreclosures, at eighth. For the period ended Sept. 30, there was one foreclosure filing for every 122 households in Michigan, for a total in the quarter of more than 37,000 filings. "We don't see a quick change to the trend. Michigan has been pretty consistently in the top 10 for highest state foreclosure rates,. I see that continuing," Daren Blomquist, RealtyTrac spokesman, told the Free Press.

Durham