What's your housing market observations this weekend? Did you overhear a motivated seller? See an unattended open house? Here are some from the topics thread. From Arizona, "I was playing golf last night with a group I have know for several years. One of them told me that KB Homes laid off 45 people this week. He said that the employees were escorted off the property by uniformed police. No severence package. Queen Creek just went over 2,800 houses for sale!"

One from Florida, " I am noticing that in Titusville/Palmbay Florida, last month they were talking about the something like 9.8% YOY price increase is still great. This month they said the something like 5% increase is still good. What is going to happen when they get to August? The median last year was around 255k and will probably be near 215K this year. How are they going to spin this one? I think this will be the reality check the housing builders, seller, and realestate agents that they really need. HOW IN THE HELL ARE THEY GOING TO PUT A POSITIVE SPIN ON THIS?"

From California, "For the past several days a Agent in Sacramento has been running a ad in the San Jose Mercury News under Income Property for sale 1-4 units”…She’s proclaming that; 'Invest In Sacramento, #1 in Growth'….But, she went over the top today…She now has her mug shot in the ad….This is better than the mug shot of the pimp in Arizona….I think Suzanne moved to Sacramento."

"'We've been reading about bubble headlines since 2002,' he said, but the Manhattan condo market could be at risk. 'In Manhattan, we're seeing a lot of construction, which is going to slow, if not turn prices down a little bit,' Christopher Mayer, a professor of real estate at Columbia Business School said. 'I wouldn't be surprised to see a 5 percent drop next year.'"

"The five year boom in local housing prices appears to be finished. Numbers released Thursday by the California Association of Realtors for April 2006 shows the median home price in Riverside-San Bernardino at $394,220. That's a drop of 2.2 percent from March's all-time high of $403,000, but more important, it's only an 8.7 percent increase from the median of $362,780 in April 2005."

"That's the first time in more than five years that year-over-year prices have risen by less than 10 percent in the Inland Empire. 'I think we'll still see some more year-over-year price increases, but the heyday of the housing boom is over,' said regional economist Jack Kyser. 'We're in a more normal market right now, and the sellers are not in charge.'"

"New housing figures released Friday suggest that May will be Orange County's seventh straight month with falling home sales, but prices still appear to be holding at record levels."

"Meanwhile, real estate economist Gary Watts backed off slightly from his forecast that home prices will go up 15 percent this year but told Realtors at a Buena Park gathering that he still expects double-digit appreciation rates for all of 2006."

"Watts called his original forecast that home prices would go up 15 percent this year 'a little optimistic.' But, he added, 'It will be well over double-digit appreciation.'"

"He said he won't know if he should consider revising his forecast until the end of July. Although real estate sales are taking their lumps so far this year, he said, 'It's an inverted year. There's going to be a good second half.'"