A community within the city of San Diego, Mission Beach, California, lies on the Pacific Ocean‘s shores and covers two miles of oceanfront property. The community has a very laid-back atmosphere and it is a popular weekend destination for those in the surrounding area, with a boardwalk running along the beach and the community stretching to the popular Mission Bay Park to the east. Because of its prime location along the ocean’s shores, Mission Beach real estate is some of the more expensive real estate in the San Diego area and it homes here are highly coveted.

During the year 2009, there were 137 resell single-family homes sold in Mission Beach and 231 resell condos. Combined, there were 396 residential properties sold for the year. The median price of single-family homes was $750,000, down 3% from 2008, and the median price for condos was $402,500, down around 10% from 2008. Overall, the median price for all types of residential homes in Mission Beach in 2009 was $514,000, down 11% from a year earlier.

More recently, Mission Beach homes for sale have actually shown the slightest improvement in pricing. During the month of March, according to the San Diego Union Tribune monthly zip code sales chart, there were 12 single-family homes sold for a median price of $730,000, up an ever so slight 0.7% year-over-year. The condo market, however, showed more signs of a continued struggle. There were 16 condos sold during the month for a median price of $267,500, a decline of nearly 32% annually. Additionally, there were four newly constructed homes sold for a median price of $352,500. In total, there were 32 residential properties sold in Mission Beach in March for a median price of $427,500, down 17% from March 2009.

The Ranch Mirage real estate market in the Palm Springs area of inland California has experienced many ups and downs in recent months as it struggles to combat the ill effects of the financial crisis plaguing broad swaths of America. In the past quarter or so, things have begun to look more positive for the market though, with increasing signs of optimism.

In February, the median price for a single-family home in Rancho Mirage was $544,750, a more than 32% increase from a year ago and a 9% increase from January’s figures. The average price was $758,194, an increase of 13.6% from 2009 and a 28.9% rise from January. Sales activity is up in general, though fluctuating month to month. In February, there were 24 homes sold, an increase of one-third from a year ago but a decline of nearly 30% from the previous month’s figures.

The condo market showed similar trends, with higher prices but fewer sales. In February, according to The Desert Real Estate Report, the median price for condos was $349,500, an increase of nearly 30% from the same time last year and a 6.7% rise from January. The average price stood at just over $344,000, a more than 9% increase from a year ago and another 12.3% higher than January’s figure. There were only 12 condos sold in February, however, a decrease by a third in activity from February 2009 and from a month prior.

Total sales activity in the city in February accounted for 43 sales, including Ranch Mirage homes for sale and condos for sale, according to DQ News. When taken together,  the median price of properties for sale was $459,000, up by more than 33% from a year earlier, when that figure was just $345,000.

Like so many other cities in the Golden State, Oakland, California, took a heavy hit when the residential real estate crisis began plaguing communities across America, helping to trigger the country’s worst economic recession in decades. Oakland saw more struggling mortgage holders, higher inventory due to foreclosures and a falling in prices. But lately the market there has shown signs of improvement and reason for optimism.

According to the California Association of Realtor’s data, prices in Oakland, unlike in so many other cities across the nation, actually saw a bounce back up in late 2009. In October, the median price for homes for sale in Oakland the sold, including ew and existing, condos and single-family homes, was $250,000, up slightly from the figure during the same time of 2008, when it was just $238,000. The figure makes for a 5% increase year-over-year.

The Oakland Association of Realtor’s data shows similar figures. In October, there were 454 homes listed for sale in the Oakland real estate market, at a median sales price of $402,113. The asking price was down from 2008′s $419,013, but the number of listings in the month has seen a steady drop. In 2008, there were 666 homes listed; this year, there were just 454.

Sales, too, show signs of improvement. The market for real estate in Oakland saw 388 homes closed upon in October, up slightly from 2008, when 368 homes sold. The homes sold had a median price of nearly $373,000, up from 2008, when that figure was just around $352,000. The days the homes spent on the market had fallen too — from 56 to 40. The coming of 2010 will show whether the Oakland market is back on its way up for good, or if these signs were just passing.