The Detroit Free Press has a report on home prices in a glutted market. "As the temperature warms, the grass greens and the trees bud, colorful for sale signs announcing the availability of housing in metro Detroit neighborhoods will pop up with new life as well. But in some communities, those new signs will be competing with the for sale signs that cropped up last spring, or in some cases the spring before."

"The existing housing market in southeast Michigan is saturated, and that glut of homes at the start of this spring housing season could indicate that houses will sit unsold longer than ever."

"In Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties, there were 37,393 homes on the market as of March 1, compared with 11,078 at the same time in 2001, a 238% increase. Housing sales are suffering everywhere, from Shelby Township, where 554 homes sold last year while 1,779 were listed, to Detroit, where 22,350 houses were listed and 6,814 sold."

"Realtors acknowledge that homes do eventually sell, though the time can vary greatly. 'Unfortunately, a year or two on the market is not a big deal anymore because of the large number of properties available,' said Jane Denning, a broker in Grosse Ile."

"'It's a mystery to us why we haven't been able to sell the house, even though the economy is suffering,' said retiree Nancy Cunningham, a West Bloomfield resident with a 4,263-square-foot home on Pine Lake that has been on the market for 2 1/2 years. 'We've done just about everything we could in an effort to sell it.'"

"Cunningham and her husband, Tom, started with putting the West Bloomfield house they've lived in for 25 years up for sale. Meanwhile, they snagged a 3,600-square-foot house near Palm Springs on a golf course with mountains in the distance. But this winter, someone else is enjoying the sunny view. The Cunninghams had to rent out the house to offset some of the burden of two mortgages. If they don't manage to sell here by the end of the summer, they may end up selling there."

"'We never thought it would take so long to sell this house,' said Tom Cunningham. 'We were never going to buy until we sold this one, but homes are appreciating so quickly out there. The longer we waited, the less we were going to get.'"

"Another snag: Sellers who can't fathom pricing homes at what the market will bear, especially when hearing of double-digit appreciation rates across much of the country. Gordon McCann, an associate broker in Plymouth, said many sellers have determined a dollar amount they need to make from the sale of their home to get into another one comfortably. Often, that amount is more than the house is worth in this area, he said."

"'You can price a house at what the market wants and it can move in 30 days, or you can price it at what the seller wants and it will sit for nine months,' McCann said. Added Keith Weber, an agent in Royal Oak: 'In this market it's not location, location, location as much as it is price, price, price.'"

"It's most frustrating to watch, said David Kaner, a mortgage loan officer who owns a two-bedroom condominium in Walled Lake that won't sell, even though it's priced at $132,000. He and his wife, have had the condo on the market for seven months. They've already moved into a newly built house in Commerce Township and are carrying two mortgages."

"'Most of our savings is being used up on a monthly basis. We're not going out to expensive dinners. I'm working longer hours trying to keep the income levels up,' Kaner said. 'It's mostly been mentally tough..when you see a significant portion of your income going out for a second mortgage, it's frustrating.'"