The New York Times has this report titled, 'The Houses That Wouldn’t Move.' "Lynn and Frank Balducci's house in Bethpage, N.Y., should be a real estate agent’s dream. The Balduccis put their 1951 colonial on the market in early May. They held seven open houses, but they still had not gotten a single offer as of early August, even after they dropped their asking price to $539,000 from $589,000."

"'It’s very depressing,' Ms. Balducci said, adding that at least seven houses in her neighborhood had been on the market for at least as long as theirs. 'It’s a little scary for us, too, because we very shortly may be in a position where we have to carry two mortgages.'"

"The Balduccis’ agent, Peggy Chugkowski in Massapequa, tells a story that is becoming increasingly familiar around the region. 'A year ago, this house would have sold within two weeks maximum, and they would have easily gotten close to $600,000,' she said. 'This really shows you what’s going on right now. It’s like the market just collapsed.'"

"The inventory of available houses in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut has soared. Some houses in the $1 million range and higher have dropped in price by more than $200,000, while lower-priced homes have had smaller percentage decreases."

"In many cases, buyers and sellers have reached a wary stalemate. 'We’re at a point where sellers don’t want to lower their prices and buyers don’t want to raise their bids,' said Roberta Baldwin, a broker in Upper Montclair, N.J. 'Buyers are now saying, ‘Wait a second, the market is stabilizing, so why should I pay $20,000 more when I could pay less?'"

"Thomas Gallagher, a broker who owns eight Century 21 offices on Long Island, called it a buyer’s market. 'I’ve never seen as many open houses as I see now,' he said."

"Mr. Gallagher said that real estate agents have been pushing harder in recent months to convince sellers that they cannot expect the kind of price increases they saw in recent years. 'People are finally starting to understand that even if they could have gotten more for their house last year, it’s not last year.'"

"Another clear sign that home sales are undergoing a market correction is the growth in inventories. In Nassau County, the inventory of homes for sale was up by 75 percent in June 2006 over the previous year, to 9,934 from 5,662. Inventory in Suffolk County went up by 65 percent to 13,724 homes in June, compared with 8,318 in 2005."

"In Westchester County, inventory was up by 38 percent over the previous year, to 6,585 residential units."

"Richard Gross, an investor from New York City who bought a three-bedroom house in New Rochelle in February 2005, hoping to resell it at a profit after making renovations, said he had had trouble getting the price he wanted. He bought the house for $315,000 and put in more than $100,000 in repairs and renovations, he said. Now, despite having had the house appraised at $555,000 and putting it on the market three months ago, he has yet to receive an offer that exceeds $500,000."

"'It seems like the boom kind of ended with everybody’s talk of the bubble bursting,' he said. 'I think all the talk actually made it happen.'"