A mid-sized community in San Mateo County, the city of Millbrae, California, is located just west of the San Francisco Bay in the northern part of the state. It is home to a population of around 20,000 and its residents are more affluent than is typical of communities in the area. In 2007, the median annual household income was more than $70,000, and Millbrae has some of the area’s more pricey real estate.

The Millbrae real estate market is generally above-average in price, but the market has suffered quite a bit in recent years since the U.S. was plagued by a widespread credit crisis and housing market crisis that later spread to the whole of the economy as a recession. The number of homes on the market rose as many were unable to afford their ballooning mortgage payments and foreclosures rose while at the same time home values saw steep declines because of poor market conditions.

As of mid-April, there were 60 Millbrae homes for sale on the market, 41 single-family homes and 19 condos or townhomes. The average listing price was more than $750,000 and homes had been spending an average of 48 days on the market before selling, according to Movoto statistics.

The Trulia real estate search site showed an average listing price of $887,872 for the week ended April 14, down 1.2% from the previous week’s average. The median sales price for January through March of this year has been around $744,400, up 3.4%, or more than $24,000, year-over-year. The average price per square foot, at $488, is up 1% year-over-year, while sale activity is up more than 23%, with 26 homes sold.

The economy in Hawaii has recently been showing signs of a slow but steady recovery, a positive sign for the Honolulu real estate market. The market has seen many positive signs in the recent months, though 2009 was a struggle of a year overall compared with recent years, with prices down hefty amounts.

In December, a jump in foreclosures in the state put Hawaii into the top 10 states with highest foreclosures, putting the monthly and yearly totals at the highest levels since 2005, according to the Honolulu Star Bulletin. In December, one of every 84 homes in Honolulu had been foreclosed upon. There were 643 foreclosures in Honolulu in December, a rise of 169% from last year.

According to Data Quick statistics, in February, the median price for homes in Honolulu’s 11 Zip codes ranged from $275,000 in the lowest-priced region to $1.69 million in the highest. The median prices of Honolulu homes for sale were up in all but three Zip codes, and those three saw declines only in the 10% range. Other Honolulu regions saw increases as high as 114.5% in one area. Sales volume in February showed positive signs as well, as just two Zip codes experienced a drop in sales, and those saw just slight declines of 1.3% and 3.5%. Other regions saw substantial increases year-over-year, with the highest increase a 144.4% rise in activity.

The state has seen slides in prices all over, as it became ranked No. 2 in the U.S. in March for having the highest percentage of homes for sale at a discounted price. According to a March Star Bulletin article, Hawaii saw 24% of active inventory reduced at least once between March of 2009 and March of 2010. In Honolulu, that figure was slightly less pronounced, with 20% of homes for sale being reduced at an average price reduction of about 8%. This ranked Honolulu as 33rd out of 50 U.S. cities being tracked.