What are you seeing in your housing market? homebuilder incentives? Motivated sellers in the classifieds? Here are some from the topics thread. "More personal stories of capitulation? My brother (bought a 508k POS in bad area in ‘04) AND a work colleague (bought 3bdr in La Jolla in ‘04) just this week have confided in me that they are thinking of selling their homes."

"The friend says if he can get out with less than 30k loss, he’ll do it. Bro still thinks he’ll escape with a 10k 'profit.' I guess he is overlooking the 60k in interest he has paid over two years."

Another said, "As per CNY homes.com Syracuse market now up to 3700. The site showed a huge jump of listings in last 2 days. There’s some old stuff on there but I think we’ll break 4000 before June’s over. I wonder what will happen after August. It’s starting to feel real bubbly round here."

"I do notice I could take some bubble photos in my little village area but they are in the 'rental' neighborhoods in the older, less desirable areas. That and the million dollar homes on the lake are plentiful."

And another, "We waited 3 months on a list to get into this 780sf one bedroom in Rancho Bernardo in the summer of ‘04. Very nice area. Now, there is a 'Now Renting' sign at the entrance (first time since we’ve been here), and they just put a flyer on my doorknob yesterday stating that the company will pay a 300 dollar finder’s fee if we get someone to move in. Think my rent is going down this summer???"

From Oregon Live. "'From a buyer's point of view, they have a little bit more to pick and choose from,' said Sherry Francis, an agent whose territory runs from Portland's West Hills to Hillsboro. Francis says she's seeing fewer out-of-state investors speculating in the Portland market this year and more owner-occupied sales."

The Mail Tribune. "'There seems to be clear evidence nationally that a slowdown is taking place,' said Tim Duy, at the University of Oregon. 'We're starting to get softer readings from Oregon as well. The lower permit numbers in single-family housing is reflective of that change.'"

"Craig Horton of the Medford Better Housing Association said he wondered whether new rental buildings could pay their way. 'Building costs are so high anymore that it's hard to build something and have a positive cash flow unless it's a large project,' Horton said. 'When I drive around seeing all those buildings going up, I ask myself 'Where are they getting tenants?' said Randy Unger, Southern Oregon Rental Owners Association president."

From California. "Dale Griffin has been trying to sell her home in Merced for more than a year. She says seeing the most recent report that says Merced's housing market is extremely overpriced is frustrating. 'It's hard to escape what the news says and I am sure everyone that is looking for houses is looking at that and saying well are they telling us the truth?' said Griffin."

"Griffin reduced the price of her home $85,000 over the last year and it still hasn't sold. 'It's very frustrating; we have loved Merced, it has been good to us, but we just want to go to the coast and retire,' she said."