The Tucson Citizen has this update from Arizona. "For sale signs are a more frequent sight in the yards of midtown Tucson houses. Some even advertise reduced prices. Those who check will find that many of the houses on the market are empty of furnishings and have no cars on the driveway."

"'A good percentage of the resale inventory is vacant, which is an indicator that an investor owns that property and has put it up for sale and is moving on,' (realtor) said Judy Lowe."

"Investors and speculators, primarily from California, fed record housing price increases in the metro area a year ago. Now they have left or are getting out of the Tucson market, said University of Arizona economist Marshall Vest."

"The numbers tell the story. In April 2005, 3,640 houses were listed for sale in metro Tucson, according to the Tucson Association of Realtors' MLS. Last month, the number was 8,131."

"Real estate executives say many Tucsonans, after seeing housing prices rise dramatically over the past two years, put their homes up for sale in the hope of cashing in on the real estate bonanza. 'So many people have put their homes on the market that it has increased the supply significantly and is actually slowing the market,' said (broker) Laura Mance."

"Lowe said the increased supply is resulting in buyers becoming more critical of a property's asking price and condition. 'When property owners aren't able to sell a home after 30 days, they need to consider making cosmetic improvements to the property or dropping their price,' she said."

"Vest said it's way too early to conclude the housing correction won't turn into a fire sale. Changing from a boom to a bust mentality takes a while, he said."

"'The market psychology has to go from 'this thing is going to go on forever' to 'this thing is never going to get any better,' Vest said. 'That doesn't happen overnight. It takes a long time, as measured in years, to go from one extreme to another.'"