Saratoga, California, is a city in Santa Clara County in the northern part of the state in the San Francisco Bay area. It is just west of San Jose in the Silicon Valley area and is home to a population of just over 30,000. Saratoga is a wealthy suburb home to many successful residents who work in the high-tech companies of Silicon Valley. The city’s 2007 estimated median annual household income was over $137,000, and Saratoga real estate is accordingly quite expensive, currently averaging more than $1 million.

So far in 2010, the Saratoga market for residential real estate has shown positive signs and seems to be improving overall. According to the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors, the first quarter of 2010, which consists of the year’s first three months, saw 135 new listings of Saratoga homes for sale on top of current inventory of 122 homes, both of which were down from numbers from the first quarter of 2009, when both figures were over 170. Sales showed improvement as well, with 38 single-family homes sold in the first quarter versus only 21 homes sold last year. The average number of days homes spent on the market before closing improved slightly as well, standing at 95 days in the first three months of this year versus 103 at the same time last year. Even home prices showed improvement in Saratoga, a positive indicator for the real estate market’s health. Average prices were at $1.8 million, up from $1.4 million last year while the median price improved to $1.6 million from $1.2 million.

The condo market in Saratoga showed similar mostly positive trends to kick off 2010. There were 19 new condos listed in addition to an inventory of 15 condos already up for sale, down slightly from last year’s inventory of 22. Sales improved significantly, with eight sales this year in the first quarter versus just a single sale in the first quarter of 2009, and the number of days condos spent on the market before selling fell drastically as well, at just 27 days from 239 last year. The average price of a condo sold in Saratoga in the first quarter of this year was $675,375 while the median price was $633,500. Not many conclusions can be drawn against last year’s figure of $618,000, however, since it was based on the sale of only a single condo.

Located about an hour north of San Francisco, the city of Santa Rosa lies at the northern end of the Bay Area. Despite the real estate struggles faced by many real estate markets throughout California since 2007, the economic recession that began in the fall of 2008 only worsened the situation, causing foreclosure rates to rocket upwards, median prices to slide, and real estate activity to stall. The financial stability of California and the concern for job security have also been major obstacles slowing the recovery of the Santa Rosa real estate, as well as that of the entire Bay Area real estate market. However, real estate experts have seen promising signs over the past few months with increasing median prices and a pick up in home sales, providing optimistic views of the Santa Rosa real estate market and suggesting that recovery is near.

According to DQNews.com, the Bay Area real estate has posted major improvements over the past several months, resulting in the first year over year gains in home sales and median prices seen in months. The median price for new and resale houses posted during the month of November was $387,000, a slight drop from the $390,000 level posted during the previous months, but still up 10.6 percent from the $350,000 seen during November of 2008. Home sales also rose over the past several of months, with a total of 6,878 new and resale houses and condos sold in November, down 13.3 percent from the previous month, but up 19.5 percent from the previous year. Real estate experts aren’t worried about the slight drop between October and November though, because historical data trends have shown the decline to be normal. Experts believe that the dwindling inventory of foreclosed or distressed properties have been the major cause for the increase in median sales prices, and the federal tax credit is believed to have played a major role in the recent uptick in home sales.

The North Bay Business Journal has also reported that there are promising signs for the commercial real estate market in the North Bay area. Many real estate experts believe the market has already hit bottom, so the only direction it can go in is up. The affordability of office space has allowed vacancy rates to stabilize as landlords take extra measures to keep their tenants happy. Experts have also noted that stabilizing unemployment rates have also played a major role in the recent improvements made in the commercial real estate market.

Real estate experts hold optimistic views of the Berkeley real estate market’s future, as recent months have shown promising improvements with increases in both home sales and median prices.  Despite concerns over job security and another wave of home foreclosures, activity in the Berkeley real estate market has increased in the past few months as a result of the federal tax credit and affordability of housing due to the large inventory of “bargain” priced properties that were previously foreclosed on.  Although it is unsure whether the Bay Area real estate is out of the woods and working towards a full recovery, real estate experts are hopeful that the future will continue to bring improvements.

According to DQNews.com, the Bay Area in California has posted increases in both home sales and median sales prices to top levels seen during the previous year.  In November, the median price paid for new or resale houses and condos sold in the Bay Area was $387,000, a 10.6 percent increase from $350,000 in November of 2008.  November was the second month that the Bay Area has posted year-over-year gains in its median sales price, but the current median price level is still 41.8 percent below the $665,000 average posted during the peak reached in the summer of 2007.  The Bay Area also posted 6,878 new and resale house and condo sales during the month of November, which was a 19.5 percent increase from the 5,756 sales posted in November of 2008.  There was a slight dip in the sales and median price between October and November, but real estate experts aren’t concerned since the market was only following the usual market trends.

Nuwire Investor has also reported the recent improvements made in the Bay Area real estate market in terms of its median prices.  Nuwire Investor has noted that most real estate experts feel that the reduced number of foreclosures selling and greater activity in the more expensive housing markets have been the major factors in the recent increase in the median sales prices.  The year-over-year increases posted in October and November of 2009 were the first time the Bay Area has had year-over-year increases since November of 2007.

Real estate experts are optimistic that the real estate in San Bruno and the surrounding Bay Area has hit bottom and is ready to rebound.  Realtors are reporting dwindling inventory of distressed properties and many communities in the Bay Area are even beginning to post year over year gains in median prices.  Although the recession of 2008 greatly deepened the real estate troubles in San Bruno, the real estate in the region was already struggling after experiencing a significant decline in sales and median prices during 2007.  However, many real estate experts still believe that the Bay Area might experience a few more slight declines in sales and/or median prices as the year comes to an end, with a full recovery not coming round till early to mid 2010.

According to DQNews.com, the Bay Area posted its first year over year gain in median sales price since 2007.  However, many communities are still struggling to sell, especially those with large inventories of luxury homes.  Currently, distressed properties and entry-level homes offering homebuyers the “bargain” prices that many are looking for are making up the vast majority of home sales in the Bay Area.  However, as the number of distressed properties for sale decreases, homebuyers are being forced to move up to the slightly more expensive homes, causing the increases in median sales prices.  The median prices for all new and resale houses and condos in the Bay Area during October rose 6.8 percent to $390,000 from $365,000 in September of 2009 and up 4 percent from $375,000 in October of 2008.  A total of 7,993 homes were sold in October, a 0.7 increase from the previous month and a 4.2 percent increase from October the year before.

The San Francisco Chronicle noted the recent success and improvements seen in the Bay Area real estate, but also noted the concern by many local real estate experts that the recent increase may not be proof that the real estate market in the area is ready for a full recovery.  Many experts believe that recovery is still a few months away, most likely sometime during the first or second quarter of 2010.  Experts also believe that the region might even experience slight declines during the next few months as the market may not have completely hit bottom.

Situated in the southern region of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California, Silicon Valley is the center of the high-tech industry for California.  Silicon Valley gained its name from the large number of silicon chip innovators and manufacturers, even though many other high-tech industries have also become associated with Silicon Valley.  Silicon Valley is also the leading technology hub in the United States.

Since the twentieth century, Silicon Valley has been home to a large, yet still growing, electronics and high-tech industry.  Some of the many technology industries centered in the region include radio, television, computer, and military electronics.  Some of the many inventions and advances made in technology related to the development of the microprocessor, microcomputer were made in Silicon Valley.  Stanford University has also played a major role in the development of Silicon Valley. The university established the Stanford Industrial Park, which is home to where Hewlett-Packard, the popular PC designer and manufacturer was born into a major, established corporation.  Eastman Kodak and General Electric are other major technology companies that have established themselves in the Stanford Industrial Park.  Some of the other technology companies established in Silicon Valley include Adobe Systems, Apple Inc., eBay, Google, Yahoo, Intel, Oracle, Nvidia, Intuit, and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).

San Francisco is a beautiful city filled with a lively atmosphere and diverse array of cultures.  Home to numerous districts with roots in a particular ethnicity, such as Chinatown, the Italian community of North Beach, Japantown, the Russian community along Clement Street, and the Mission District, which is home to those of Spanish influence, San Francisco’s pop culture relies on the city’s restaurants, bars, and hotels located in the various “cultural divisions” of San Francisco.

However, one of San Francisco’s most memorable pop culture era’s is that of the past.  In the late 1960’s, San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury District became a haven for “hippies” and “flower children” who were fleeing from established society and preached the benefits of peace, love, and hallucinogens.  By the 1970’s though, Haight-Ashbury had become a dangerous and ugly district filled with drugs and vice.  Recently, with the raise in real estate prices all over San Francisco, a gentrification of the city has taken place, with Haight-Ashbury now containing primarily a middle-class population with specialty boutiques, used bookstores, coffeehouses, and upscale restaurants.