The Arizona Republic reports on the decline in Phoenix area home prices. "If you're a Southeast Valley homeowner, don't gloat too much about how much more your home could sell for compared with a year ago. Prices have begun falling over the past few months. In general, median prices have been coming down since September as buyers have begun balking at paying higher prices, said Jay Butler, at ASU. Home sales figures released Friday reflect that trend."

"'What we're moving into is that home buyers are going to live in the house, so they are more cautious about what they will pay, as opposed to someone who is more investment driven,' he said. 'It's anybody's guess how far they (prices) might drop down.'"

"Ahwatukee Foothills still had the Southeast Valley's highest median sales prices in January, at $357,500. But that was a drop from $386,250 in December. Tempe's $269,900median price in January was down from $275,120 in September. Mesa's $240,000 fell from $243,500 in September."

"The number of sales fell dramatically in January, but that's because last January 2005 had an abnormal amount of sales and was 'the beginning of the hyper market,' Butler said."

"Butler believes people who have been moving to Maricopa and Casa Grande because homes were more affordable will start to wonder if it's worth it because of higher gasoline prices and more traffic congestion. He said he has talked to Tempe teachers who said their commute from Casa Grande or Maricopa used to be 30 to 35 minutes and has grown to 40 to 60 minutes because of increased traffic. Parents with long commutes can't spend as much time with their kids.'

"'Lots of people may be saying 'is it really worth what we're doing for this house for two hours a day, five days a week?,' he said."

And the Associated Press had this report. "The Bush administration on Friday detailed its proposal to sell more than 300,000 acres of national forests and other public land to help pay for rural schools in 41 states. The land sales, ranging from less than an acre to more than 1,000 acres, could total more than $1 billion and would be the largest sale of forest land in decades."

"Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey said the parcels to be sold are isolated, expensive to manage or no longer meet the needs of the national forest system. The administration expects to have to sell only about 200,000 of the 309,000 acres identified Friday to meet the $800 million goal, he said. 'These are not the crown jewels we are talking about,' Rey said in an interview. The public can review the land parcels that are up for sale on the Forest Service's Web site."

"'This is a reasonable proposal to take a small fraction of a percentage of national land which is the least necessary and use it for those in need and achieve an important overarching public purpose,' Rey said. The proposed sell-off would total less than half of 1 percent of the 193 million-acre national forest system."

"A spokeswoman for the Bureau of Land Management, which previously said it will sell another 125,000 acres, said BLM land to be sold would be identified at the local level. The lands are typically part of a checkerboard pattern of small parcels surrounded by suburban or urban areas, Interior officials say."

"BLM spokeswoman Celia Boddington said much of the land would be near urban areas with high market value. In recent years, the government has sold parcels for tens of millions of dollars in Nevada, for example, she said. 'Lands formerly remote are now abutting metro areas. That is certainly the case in New Mexico, Arizona and Utah,' she said. Nearly 500 parcels totaling more than 85,000 acres in California are identified for possible sale."