Some housing reports from the central US. "Downtown Chicago condominium sales fell about 24 percent in the first six months of 2006 from a year earlier. Buyers signed contracts or reservations for 3,739 Chicago condominiums through June, a decline from 4,898 in the same period of 2005, a record year, according to Appraisal Research Counselors."

"'I think the market has slowed down a little bit, but we don't think the market has stopped,' said Ron DeVries, of the Chicago consulting firm. Buyers signed contracts or reservations for 1,496 units from April through June, compared with 2,243 contracts signed from January through March, the study said."

"The study points toward a softening in investor demand. 'Because there is this perception out there that the market is turning--and we would agree that the market has fallen off a little bit--there is less investor activity,' he said. 'The speculators are still out there. But as the market cools we would expect to see the speculators buying fewer of these units.'"

"This year has been 'extremely active' in announcements of new-construction condominiums, the report said. Projects with more than 4,200 new condos started marketing during the first half of 2006."

"With the large amount of new development in the South Loop, unsold inventory levels in that area have risen far above other downtown submarkets, the report said."

The Sun Times. "Appraisers are taking the heat in Illinois and nationwide for what some see as a bloating in real estate valuations. The charges include over-inflated appraisals, underestimates and criminal fraud, according to Daniel E. Bluthardt, director of the Illinois Division of Professional Regulation."

"Under the current system, 'there is a tremendous amount of due process that goes into the discipline system,' he said. 'These folks hire lawyers who know the system and it will delay the end result. They can go on for a couple years.'"

"The nature of complaints is changing, Bluthardt said. 'We have almost exactly the same number of pending complaints,' he said. 'However, the current complaints are of a more serious nature than the complaints that were pending in prior years.'"

"'What we have seen is a trend lately to outright fraud,' he said. 'Some is being conducted by people who are not licensed, but are using the names and license numbers of legitimate appraisers.'"

"Real estate appraisals that come in over the 'true' property value threaten home owners and home builders alike. As the housing market cools, for the first time in years, Quad City sales are down on a year-over-year basis with prices weakening in the upper brackets, folks are confronting a problem that was easily ignored during the real estate boom. The problem is inflated home appraisals."

"Critics inside and outside the appraisal business have long warned that many appraisals are too high because generous appraisals help mortgage loan officers and brokers, who often select the property appraiser, complete more deals."

"Those with flawed credit are particularly vulnerable, says Iowa Assistant Attorney General Patrick Madigan, who coordinates with law enforcement officials from other states on a variety of mortgage-related issues. Madigan believes that the deliberate overstating of appraisals is 'widespread' among loans to subprime borrowers."

"Jacquie Doty of Freddie Mac predicts that inflated appraisals will lead to higher default rates in the coming years. For sure, the inflated appraisal concern in the Quad-Cities likely is lower than in places like Florida or California, where consumers had little choice but to play along with silly appraisals if they hoped to buy a home."

From Nebraska. "It's a buyer's market for Omaha-area home shoppers, expert told KETV. About 6,000 homes are up for sale around the metro, and a number of real estate experts said that is among the largest pools of available real estate in decades."

"It's a phenomenon being seen across the country as row upon row of unsold homes flood the market. Real estate experts said the national numbers of available homes are the highest they've been in half a century, and Omaha isn't immune."

"'In my 26 years, I've never seen this many homes for sale (in) this market,' said Omaha real estate agent Van Deeb. Deeb points to slower sales and continuing new construction among the reasons for the swelling inventories. Statistics from the Omaha Area Board of Realtors show that 5,940 homes are on the market now in Omaha and of that, about 4,400 are pre-owned and about 1,500 are new."

"Deeb said he doesn' t, however, believe that Omaha's housing bubble is bursting, unlike the markets in some other cities including Phoenix and Las Vegas."