The Birmingham real estate market seems to be making something of a recovery, although the fundamental indicators of the region are not enough to declare a full-blown reversal in the market’s fortunes. According to a November 23, 2009 article in the Birmingham Business Journal, “Home sales in Alabama last month experienced the first positive year-over-year increase since July 2007, said the Alabama Center for Real Estate. According to the center’s statewide home sales report, 3,589 homes sold in the state in October. That’s nearly 3 percent higher than September and more than 13 percent higher than October of last year. The center’s Executive Director Grayson Glaze said in an e-mail the last time the month of October saw a positive year-over-year percentage was four years ago, when it was nearly 15 percent.”
On the other hand, a number of Birmingham homes for sale are so-called “short sales”, at least according to a November 12, 2009 article by Jerry Underwood in The Birmingham News. The article noted that “Foreclosure activity across Alabama rose slightly in October compared to the month before, according to RealtyTrac, a firm that monitors mortgage defaults. RealtyTrac counted 2,447 default notices, scheduled foreclosure auctions and bank repossessions in Alabama last month, up 1.5 percent from September. The rise from October 2008 was 193 percent, a figure that could be swelled by more thorough reporting, the firm said.” Another article in the Birmingham News published on November 5, 2009 found that “Foreclosure rates for the Birmingham area rose during September, mortgage researcher First American CoreLogic said today.”
A November 29, 2009 article published by WZTV Fox 17 indicated mixed figures for real estate in Birmingham. According to the piece, originally published by the Associated Press, noted that “Recent sales data shows Birmingham’s housing market is coming back but experts say it’s too early to get overly excited about an uptick. Last month, metro area home sales showed their first year-over-year increase in well over a year. The Birmingham Association of Realtors said 933 homes were sold, up 13 percent from October 2008…For October, the Birmingham area’s median price rose 8 percent over the year-ago period to $142,500, while the average price fell 5 percent to $160,266.”
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The Newport Beach real estate market continues to face conflicting signs, although it is arguably the strongest-recovering market in the entire country. According to a November 27, 2009 article from Michael Gerrity of the ![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_b.png?x-id=714a11e0-ce04-433b-9cc4-1bc486dd625a)

According to another article in the Oregonian, this one written by Ryan Frank, Portland home sales rose considerably in the month of October. The November 12, 2009 article found that “Portland home sales rose surprisingly fast in October thanks to relatively low interest rates and the federal tax credit for home buyers. 
Seattle real estate
Phoenix real estate

A November 9, 2009 article in 
A smidgen of good news for Houston homes for sale was reported by the Houston Business Journal on November 10, 2009. According to the piece, “The median price of an existing home in the Houston area rose by 0.2 percent to $160,600 during the third quarter, according to figures released Tuesday by the National Association of Realtors. The median price in the same quarter last year was $160,200. Total sales in Texas for the third quarter were up 9.8 percent from the second quarter, but were down 1.9 percent year-over-year. For the nation as a whole, the median price of an existing home fell 11 percent in the third quarter compared to the second quarter, NAR reported. Existing home sales rose 11 percent between the second and third quarters, and were also up 5.9 percent from the third quarter of 2008.”
A similar trend was noted by an October 20, 2009 article in
The Santa Fe real estate market is closely related to the state of the overall New Mexico economy, and seems to have only enjoyed a limited boost from the federal stimulus efforts. However, the benefits of that program have been sufficient to induce additional efforts from government officials to extend the first time home buyer credit. According to a November 6, 2009 article in 