Bloomberg has this report on the 'housing decline. "Ko Ueno hasn't found a buyer for his one- bedroom condominium in Cambridge, Massachusetts, even after cutting the price three times since October and offering a $6,000 cash rebate. Ueno, whose apartment near Harvard University went on the market for $329,000 and is now listed at $299,000, is caught in the first U.S. housing decline since 1999."

"'The housing market isn't just cooling, there is a decided chill in the air,' says economist Chris Rupkey. 'Market power is shifting from sellers to buyers as unsold inventories continue to rise.'"

"Many sellers are finding they must cut their initial asking prices by 10 percent or more to entice buyers, according to brokers. Real-estate agents sound more like car dealers as they use phrases like 'cash back,' 'buyer rebates' and 'must sell.' They speak of being 'skunked' at open houses, meaning, no one showed up, even after the sellers made 'price improvements.'"

"'I've learned to bring a good book with me,' says agent Christopher Rotondo, as he sits alone at an open house in Newport, Rhode Island."

"Investors who buy homes to resell at a profit are rushing out of the market, putting more pressure on prices, says David Berson, chief economist at Washington-based Fannie Mae. Such investors bought a record 2.34 million homes last year, according to data from the realtors group."

"'Investors can put their money in any asset they want, and with returns slowing, it makes it more likely they will pull out of housing,' Berson said."

"Shelley Grandy says investors 'dumping' their properties have stalled her efforts to sell her four-bedroom brick townhouse in Sterling, Virginia. Grandy reduced the price of her home to $435,000 this week, after listing it for $455,000 in February. In addition, she's offering $10,000 for 'closing cost help.'"

"'The flippers turned it into a buyers' market because they're now desperate to sell,' Grandy says. As for her townhouse, 'this is pretty much my bottom price,' Grandy said. 'I won't go any lower than this. I'll just hold it and rent it, like a lot of people are doing.'"

The Boston Herald. "A new study finds Boston housing remains at its highest risk ever for price declines, with a nearly 60 percent probability that home values will fall during the next two years. Meanwhile, the Massachusetts Association of Realtors reported yesterday that the number of unsold properties on the market has reached an all-time high."

"MAR said sellers had 68,574 houses and condos listed for sale statewide in May, a 5.1 percent jump from a previous record set just one month earlier. All told, unsold inventories have set fresh records in each of the past 15 months."