Cape Cod
A notoriously high-priced and exclusive market, the Cape Cod, Massachusetts, real estate area has nonetheless found itself it down as of late. Brought about by the U.S. financial crisis, which has spread around the world, Cape Cod’s markets have suffered too, seeing home values decline, inventory rise and foreclosures up.

The year 2009 seems to be a turning point year though, as the Cape Cod real estate market tries to drag itself out of the mud. During the greater part of 2009, Cape Cod showed a marked increase in sales volume, though prices were still far off their highs.

According to a local Kinlin Grover Real Estate report, during the greater part of 2009, the average price of a home sold in Cape Cod was $381,700, down quite a bit from 2008′s average of $465,900. Homes were also spending more time on the market — an average of 184 days, up from 157 in the previous year — though the number of listings was down. Real estate in Cape Cod varies greatly, with average sale prices ranging from $1.67 million in Hyannis Port down to $179,700 in Hyannis.

The high-end market of homes for sale in Cape Cod has not been immune to any of this activity. The average price of a high-end home in 2009 was $1.75 million, down from $1.83 million, and homes were spending extensively longer on the market: 316 days in 2009, up from 208 days in 2008. The number of homes listed for sale remained virtually unchanged from the previous year.

The famed Laguna Beach neighborhood in Southern California’s Orange County, notorious for being home to some of the nation’s most pricey residential real estate, has seen its sales figures and home values drop in the midst of the nation’s worst housing crisis in decades.

Though many would think residents of upscale neighborhoods like Laguna Beach immune to the effects of a recession, like foreclosures, that thought is not quite right. According to the Orange County Register, in November, there were 77 homes in the Laguna Beach real estate market in default, with nearly half, 36, valued at more than $1 million.

Real estate in Laguna Beach is languishing on the market as well, looking for buyers with lots of cash or credit. As of Nov. 30, according to the Register, the average time on the market for homes for sale in Laguna Beach was 9.69 months, up from 8.27 months just two weeks ago.

The neighborhood, too, has seen its median sales price continue to decline. The median price of a home in Laguna Beach in a three week period ending Dec. 5 $1.02 million, down by 45% from last year. However, sales volume shows signs for encouragement during that period, as the area tallied 33 homes sold, an increase of 73.7% over the same period of last year, according to the OC Register.