The Associated Press reports on pricing in the housing bubble. "Spring is typically the busiest time of the year for home sales. But with mortgage rates rising and sales slowing, sellers find they have to work harder to get a sale. In February, there were 3.03 million previously owned homes for sale, a level not seen since 1991, when 1.91 million homes were up for sale."

"'Business is tough. The inventory of available properties has increased,' said Martin Bouma, an Ann Arbor real estate agent. 'You are looking at (the number of) buyers going down, and inventory is going up.' Pete Montero first listed his Ann Arbor, Mich., nearly a year ago at $379,000. The 2,600-square-foot home didn’t attract buyers so Montero dropped the price in $10,000 increments, he’s now asking $329,900, and he’s even considered remodeling the kitchen."

"Some incentives offered by sellers include a year’s worth of free landscaping or lawn care, free snow removal for a year or a year’s worth of alarm service. And, that’s just from the owners of existing homes, builders sitting on a mound of inventory have also had to come up with new ways of wooing buyers."

"The first signs of an ebbing in demand appeared last summer and have continued into this year. Applications for home loans, a gauge of future home sales, are down 20 percent from last year. 'I have seen it transition from a seller’s market to a buyer’s market,' said Bob Moulton, a mortgage broker based in Manhassett, N.Y. 'Buyers are putting in bids but they are not counter offering.'"

"While some homes can be taken off the market place by their owners, home builders cannot afford to hold on to empty homes. So, some have offered their own incentives, such as helping to pay mortgage closing costs or upgrading kitchen appliances. 'This year we’re being a little more aggressive from the advertising and incentive standpoint,' said Paris Reese, CFO of MDC Corp., a Denver-based builder. 'Incentives are an important part of our business,' but Reese is quick to note, 'we’re not doing any fire sales.'"

"Dallas-based Centex Corp., meanwhile, has kicked off a series of 12-hour sales in Seattle, Las Vegas, Houston and Denver, among other markets. In Sacramento, Calif., Centex lopped off $100,000 from some multimillion dollar homes."

"Toll Brothers’ marketing involves staging Easter egg hunts, Halloween parades as well as charity events or PTA meetingsBut aside from special events and upgrades to kitchen appliances, the single factor determining whether a home attracts buyers likely will be its price. 'You can have the biggest circus on the street, but it comes down to price and having the right price,' said Bouma."

"Maria Janeidas, an information technology consultant based in Manhattan, looked at about 24 homes in six weeks on the north shore of New York’s Long Island, but didn’t find any bargains. 'There is still a disparity between what a seller believes their home is worth and what buyers are willing to spend,' Janeidas said."