The Lowell Sun has this update from Massachusetts. "Local real-estate agents are altering their outlook, and tactics, as the Massachusetts housing market cools. 'The key is to price the property correctly,' said Dan Sullivan in Chelmsford. 'The market isn't catching up.'"

"For Coldwell Banker, the state's largest real-estate company, this means that with the housing boom now just a memory, it's time to drop listing prices. 'It's really basic Economics 101,' said Angela Stamoulos, a Boston-based training manager for Coldwell Banker. 'If homes have been sitting on the market for three months without selling, they're probably overpriced.'"

"According to the Massachusetts Association of Realtors, 46,019 single-family homes were on the market in May, up 27 percent from 36,259 in May 2005; there were 22,555 condominiums up for sale, up 48 percent from May 2005."

"Mark Callahan, broker/owner in Lowell, saw his own residence in Tyngsboro sit on the market for 118 days before it sold last month for $555,000. Callahan's original asking price for the three-bedroom Colonial was $599,000. He said competition among sellers was fierce, about five homes in his subdivision were on the market simultaneously."

"'I wanted to sell my home, so I priced it aggressively,' Callahan said. 'Today's buyers are cautious and expect a good price.'"

"Callahan said he does not recommend a dramatically low listing price right off the bat. 'If you price your property at $200,000, people are going to offer $180,000,' he said. 'If you price your property at $180,000, they're going to come in at $160,000.'"

"Immediately listing a property at a cut-rate price..'just gives (buyers) a bigger incentive to offer less money,' (realtor) Brenda Beaudoin in Dracut said."

"Stamoulos said Coldwell Banker's strategy is fueled by a need to make a property stand out from an increasingly saturated field. 'When there's so much inventory, buyers become paralyzed and don't get a perception of value,' she said."

"Sullivan agreed, saying that lowering prices is one of the few weapons at an agent's disposal. 'Location, condition and price are the main considerations,' he said. '"You can't change the location, but you can improve the conditions, and you can change the price.'"

The Boston Globe. "A buyer's market is firmly in place in Massachusetts. The causes include: only so-so economic growth and a glut of supply, so those buyers who are in the market don't feel the need to rush to get the last available property."

"Like many potential home buyers, Chip Chaunamom has been watching and waiting. The Web designer has been looking for his first home in the Lowell area for more than a year. As the real estate market has cooled, he now is looking for a better deal in a single-family home. 'There's a lot more on the market and prices have dropped a lot,' Chaunamom said. 'I think I'm in a good position.'"

"Dorothy Murphy and her husband wanted to sell their home in Quincy as soon as possible. They put their three-bedroom starter home on the market at the end of March for about $310,000. By May, it was under agreement for $280,000."

"Murphy said they could see the market shift even during the period their home was for sale, with many properties staying on the market longer. They felt lucky they were able to sell when they did. 'By the time we got the offer, we were thinking, `Boy, we better take this,' she said."

"So what's going on? David Wluka, president of MAR, said the market, and home sellers, are in the midst of a reckoning. Reality still hasn't sunk in with sellers, Wluka said, and prices won't drop further until many more would-be sellers realize they can't command the elevated prices they once could. 'The sellers are going through denial, basically,' he said."