A city of about 60,000 located in the high-priced Southern California region, Fountain Valley has seen its market for real estate take some wild dives over the past couple of years amid housing market crashes, recession-induced layoffs and foreclosures and overstocked inventory.

In the early stages of 2010, it seems that Fountain Valley real estate is still struggling to climb back. According to DataQuick Information Systems, which tracks housing statistics for all cities in Orange County, in January of this year, there were 30 homes sold, a decrease in sales volume of 9.1% from the same period one year ago. Prices, too, are still not where they once were.

In January, the median price for a home sold in Fountain Valley was $560,500, down 9.6% from January of 2009. There were more than 200 homes on the market, but the city also had a stock of more than 260 foreclosed homes.

For a three-week period ending Feb. 16, according to the Orange County Register, Fountain Valley homes for sale showed slight improvement in pricing, with a median up to $570,000, just 3% off prices from a year earlier. But sales volume was down further than in January, with 38 homes sold, a decrease of 13.6% year-over-year. This high-priced market will continue to have figures well below those of the likes of 2006 and 2007, and it remains to be seen whether those prices can be reached again in the near term.