The Arizona Daily Star reports from Tucson. "Some people living near The Greens at Ventana Canyon have wondered what is happening with a condo conversion that started there at the beginning of the year and doesn't appear to have made much progress in the meantime."

"'My daughter and I walked through there and it was like a ghost town,' said Angie Calderon, who lives in the adjacent complex, which has been undergoing a condo conversion of its own. 'It looked like they had started working and then had to stop.'"

"The project is moving forward, said Anthony Contreras, for The Ryness Co., which is handling sales and marketing for Canada-based 20/20 Properties, the company that bought the 20-year-old apartments to convert them. 'It's definitely not a ghost town. There's great units out there. We're not going to have a problem selling them,' Contreras said."

"Though the company held a lottery drawing in March because there were more qualified buyers than units, it didn't receive approval until mid-May to begin actual sales, a detail that may have contributed to the perceived slowdown, said Dino Paone, a mortgage lender who has dealt with several condo projects in Tucson."

"Paone said the condo market had 'kind of a double-whammy' in Tucson over the last several months. 'There's so many choices right now for buyers. The market..won't go back to where it's been over the past two years. That kind of frenzy only happens every 15 years or so, he said. 'Will it be like it was two years ago? No, it just won't.'"

The East Valley Tribune. "Superstition Vistas, the Arizona Land Department’s much-touted grand experiment in new urbanism, is about to face its first real-world trial at a time when the market isn’t exactly clamoring for new development."

"The recent, failed state land auction at Desert Ridge shouldn’t be interpreted as a sign that the development community will pull a noshow at the Lost Dutchman Heights sale, said Richard Hubbard, also a former deputy land commissioner."

"The land was appraised at nearly $462,000 an acre early this year, when trust land at Desert Ridge was selling for up to $1 million an acre. The department plans to hold another auction Sept. 28, but deputy land commissioner Jamie Hogue said she isn’t expecting it to turn out any better. 'We’re getting the perception that there’s not much interest,' she said."

The Arizona Republic. "Home buyers hopeful to recoup their earnest money from shuttered home builder Turner-Dunn have found themselves at the back of a long and frustrating line. Most home buyers paid $2,500 or $5,000 in earnest money. But some, like Gerald and Barbara McCurdy of Caledonia, Ill., plunked down nearly $28,000 because, they said Turner-Dunn charged them more for buying an investment home. 'We're just hoping it works out,' Barbara McCurdy said. 'But we haven't heard from them since May.'"

"Turner-Dunn's attorney, Alan Meda, said about 90 homes were 85 to 90 percent finished. But since construction ceased in the spring, many have deteriorated from summer heat, monsoon storms and neglect, and it's uncertain how much work would have to be redone. 'We're very motivated to get these homes closed,' Meda said."

The Reno Gazette Journal from Nevada. "Sales of existing single-family homes in Reno-Sparks fell 41 percent in August compared with August 2005, extending the streak of double-digit, year-over-year losses by percentage in every month this year. In the greater Reno-Sparks area, the median price fell to $325,000, 10 percent below August of last year and the third consecutive year-over-year drop."

"In Reno, the median price fell to $388,200, down 9 percent from August 2005. Sparks dropped 5 percent, to $320,000 and the North Valleys dropped 7 percent, to $265,000, in August compared with August 2005."

"Also in the report, prices for existing condos and townhomes in the Reno area dropped 17 percent in August, to $165,100, compared with August '05. In July, the median for condos was $165,000. Carson City also posted a decrease in August, down 8 percent, to $309,000, compared with the same month a year ago."

"None of this comes as a surprise to Stephen Haley, president of the Reno-Sparks Association of Realtors. 'There is some correction going on,' Haley said. 'We have not had any major job layoffs, and every time we've seen a drop in values there has been layoffs. I don't see that happening.'"

The Review Journal in Las Vegas. "A fundamental shift is occurring in the type of housing offered in Las Vegas, a real estate executive said. 'Developers still reap the benefits of higher density where land values are justified, yet they can build and sell these units at $250 a square foot instead of $350 a square foot, capturing a larger percentage of the home-buying market,' Ken Perlman said."

"Sales of new homes have slid 37 percent from a year ago, Sullivan Group President Tim Sullivan noted. The pain isn't going away soon. Look for reduction in prices and home builder incentives to continue well into 2007, Sullivan said."

"Operating profit growth for home builders sank from 44 percent in 2004 and 47 percent in 2005 to an estimated negative 18 percent this year and negative 52 percent in 2007, Credit Suisse reported. How are home builders coping? Some have laid off staff, Sullivan said; others shrank their business and are now walking away from deals or renegotiating deals."