The Virginia Pilot has this report on a condo project in Norfolk. "The city may provide tax incentives to Granby Tower, a 34-story condominium project that would be downtown's tallest building, said two city officials who asked not to be identified. A performance-based grant would rebate a portion of taxes, the officials said."

"Such grants have routinely been used by the city to attract businesses but have rarely, if ever, been used for residential projects."

The Baltimore Sun. "Five months after registering to convert the building at 3900 N. Charles St to condos, the owner is abandoning the conversion because of slow sales. DSF Group of Boston plans to market the units it had offered for $185,000 to $300,000 as luxury rentals."

"'It's really what the market wants, and it's as straightforward as that,' said Art Solomon, CEO of DSF, which bought the 232-unit building. DSF has taken 35 to 40 reservations since starting the marketing campaign in April, Solomon said."

"The abrupt switch, the first halting of a condo conversion in the state in at least three years, was made at a time when the once red-hot housing market is losing steam. Home sales in Baltimore and the five surrounding counties have fallen each month since October from year-earlier levels, and the number of unsold properties has been piling up: The number for sale in June was more than twice the number a year earlier."

"At the end of June, about 13,300 condos, 3,800 of them conversions, were for sale in Northern Virginia, up from 9,600 a year earlier."

"Barbara Ruland and her husband moved across 39th Street to the Ambassador on July 12. 'They were expensive, and they weren't fixing any major systems,' said Ruland. They put a lot of money in stuff on the first floor we'd never use, a bar/lounge, billiard rooms and a little projection room.'"

"Residents and city officials said it may have more to do with the company's inability to sell the 243 units. In a letter to tenants July 24, DSF said, 'During the past several months, the overall community has voiced its opinion and we have therefore decided to maintain the property as a rental community.'"

"In a letter to residents who weren't eligible for extensions of their leases, DSF said that it considered those leases as being month to month and that they could negotiate a new, one-year lease at their current rents. 'What it really means is that they were not able to complete one sale' of an apartment as a condo, tenant Ann Murray said. Tessa Hill-Aston, housing coordinator for the city and city councilwoman Pat Clarke, said that's their understanding, too."

The Providence Journal. "Sales of condominiums in Rhode Island this spring fell sharply, as the pace of condo construction picked up with no sign of abating. During April, May and June, condo sales declined 22.6 percent compared with the same three months last year. Condo listings statewide jumped 76 percent from a year ago, to 1,784 units."

"Nationally, the condo market is showing signs of weakness, with inventory running at its highest level since the early 1990s. In South Florida and Las Vegas, some developers have scrapped their condo construction plans because they can't sell enough units to get financing."

"In Rhode Island, 16 out of 27 cities and towns which recorded second-quarter condo sales, including Providence's East Side, reported, on average, price declines from a year earlier."

"In the Providence metro area, which includes parts of Massachusetts, more than 900 new condominium/townhouse units are currently under construction. That's 900 new units in a market that historically absorbs 500 to 600 condo units per year, said economist Gleb Nechayev in Boston. And another 2,500 more condo/townhouse units are planned, he said. 'Condos are the first to go when there's a slowdown,' he said."

"'I haven't sold any condos this quarter, actually,' said Bob Del Deo, a real estate agent on Providence's East Side. And if all those condos don't sell, what then? Del Deo, of Coleman, said some of the condo plans could be converted to satisfy another demand in the housing market: rentals."