Real estate experts have seen promising signs for Southern California and Newport Beach real estate.  Over the past few months, the Southern California region has posted increases in both its home sales and median sales prices.  Despite real estate struggles that began in 2007, prior to the economic recession of 2008, which only worsened the situation, Southern California has provided real estate experts with optimistic views of the future.  Many experts believe that the greater affordability of housing in the region, as well as favorable interest rates, the decline of the inventory of foreclosed properties, and the federal tax credit will play major roles in the recovery of the Newport Beach real estate market during the 2010 year.

According to DQNews.com, Southern California has posted significant improvements in the region’s real estate markets with an increase in both the number of houses and condos sold and the median sales price.  In December of 2009, a total of 22,328 new and resale houses and condos were sold in Southern California, a 16.4 percent increase from that of the previous year, and a 12.1 percent from that of the previous year.  December marked the 18^th consecutive month in which Southern maintained a year-over-year gain in terms of home sales.  December also marked the first month with year-over-year gains in the median sales price.  In December, the median sales price for houses and condos in Southern California was $289,00, a 1.4 percent increase from $285,000 in November and a 4 percent increase from $278,000 a year earlier.

The Los Angeles Times has also reported on the recent improvements made to the Southern California real estate market.  The LA Times reported that very favorable interest rates and more affordable housing played a major role in the recent increases in real estate activity and median sales prices.  The rebounding home prices is expected to lead the recovery of the housing market as construction and development projects are also increased to satisfy the increasing demand for housing in the Southern California region.  Real estate experts also believe that the federal tax credit will spur real estate activity as the deadline approaches in the spring.

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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.

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