Some real estate markets have seen small increases toward the start of 2010 and the end of 2009. So far, we’ve seen New York state, Florida, and Massachusetts experiencing slight increases. Although some of these may be the result of the homebuyers’ tax credits, two factors that all of these markets have in common is increased single-family home prices – even if slight – and increased home sales overall. Foreclosed and short sale properties aren’t included in with these figures. Another part of the country seeing more of the same is Southern California, although the increases seen here are primarily in average home prices and not the buying of new homes.

Compared to nearly two years ago, real estate across Southern California has seen a four percent rebound, although the average home price has decreased 30 percent since May 2006. Nevertheless, this figure seems to be reflective of many areas across the nation. After a steep decrease, the past year has seen very small increases in the price for the average home. Additionally, other notable increases experienced in this area were a 0.3 percent increase on the average home price between December and January, with marked increases in the cities. In fact, Los Angeles saw a 1.8 percent increase during this time.

Those observing the market in Southern California have noted that these results may be the repercussions of a market bottoming out after years of declines. The Southern California real estate market may reflect that of the rest of the country, but one important factor to be noted is the lack of home sales. Compared to a year ago, Southern California hasn’t seen a significant rise in sales figures. The Valley experienced a sharp decline in its economy, and this lack of home buying may reflect the state of the area.

It may be close to Wall Street, but what’s the state of real estate in Lower Manhattan? While, according to a recent article, real estate in Downtown has always trailed behind Midtown, the state of commercial buildings in the area is uncertain, especially as the former World Trade Center space is expecting new projects by 2013. The area, in general, has experienced ebbs and flows according to the linked article above, and the period in the present looks more like a dip, although when an increase will happen is still uncertain. As Midtown has reached the lowest possible point in recent years, the same can be said for Downtown, although whenever either neighborhood will climb back has not been determined.

So far, the amount of office space has increased in Downtown during the past year, going from 7.7 to 8.1 percent vacant. With more offices planned for the area, more commercial real estate properties may continue to go unfilled. Many of these properties are planned to be Class A office space and one option the area has proposed for the remaining Class C and D space is to convert it to residential properties. The combination of remaining and new Class A office space would potentially attract varied businesses to the area.

Most building space currently in Downtown is nearly 50 years old. Like the rest of the real estate market, commercial properties in Downtown have also seen their share of decreases, including a 39-percent decrease in rents per square foot since 2008. But, with new anticipated properties in the area by 2013, the average price per square foot may increase, but buildings may go unfilled. At the moment, a rebuilt One World Trade Center tower would add 2.6 million square feet of Class A office space, and a third building for the space is in the works. This could end up as many empty properties or it could attract newer businesses to the area.

Going back to the personal real estate market, what other parts of the country are starting to see some recovery? It’s been nearly three years since the real estate market tanked and, during that time, the market has slowly crept back up. Although the average home price is lower now than in 2007, it’s at a level in which a person might be able to purchase a house and not get stuck with a mortgage he or she can’t pay. One state recently in the news that has noticed a slight recovery compared to a year ago is Massachusetts. Overall, the median sales price increased, as well as homes being bought overall.

More specifically, according to the linked article above, the median price for a single family house increased 8.4 percent in February, which was the third month of higher prices overall. Sales, compared to a year ago, were up 13.5 percent. In Boston, an area hit somewhat hard by the real estate crash, also experienced a slight increase in the average home price, with a 0.3 percent increase. But, while all of this looks good on paper for the real estate market in Massachusetts, will this last or will it plateau?

The future for Massachusetts and every other state appears uncertain. What factors have contributed to this increase – lower average home prices or homebuyers’ tax credits? In the near future, the homebuyers’ tax credits are ending and more federal efforts will be geared to boost home sales. However, mirroring the pre-2007 state of the real estate market, the Federal Reserve might increase the lower interest rates experienced recently by purchasing mortgage-backed securities. As indicted by the article, these factors may contribute to slower or decreased sales, although neither of these outcomes is entirely certain.

Personal properties appear to have stabilized somewhat during the past three years since the crash of the real estate market, but, as we’ve seen in previous posts, the failures of the real estate market might not be over. Recent real estate predictions state that commercial real estate may be lurking around before hitting small and medium-sized banks with unpaid loans. Although adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) don’t appear to affect commercial businesses and developments, many of these businesses have loans from small to medium-sized banks. And, with unpaid loans due to a lack of business, the commercial properties will result in several bank failures. In fact, this may start as early as the end of 2010.

The loss is already anticipated to be $300 million, although this is only an estimated figure at the time. Commercial properties range from office buildings to stores and what might result from a commercial real estate crash would mirror the rental aspect of the real estate crisis. Landlords unable to pay their mortgages due to a lack of renters eventually had to evict all tenants from not paying their mortgage. At the moment, many of these commercial buildings are empty or are partially built.

What could possibly help this situation? Already, on the distant heels of the TARP fund, is a $30 billion fund proposed by President Obama, according to the linked article above. This amount would be geared toward small to midsize community banks experiencing their share of financial troubles. This amount would be designed to boost lending to small businesses – those needing loans to start up shop. The fund, however, has not been approved by Congress as of yet. One possible destination for the amount is the federal Small Business Administration, instead of banks. The federal Small Business Administration would then decide which businesses receive loans.