What do you see in your housing market this weekend? Builder incentives? Condo auctions? Here's one incentive from North Carolina. "Typically, it’s a free toaster oven or trip to Hawaii that’s used to clinch a deal. In Haywood County, however, one company selling manufactured and modular homes has found that a can of beans, your choice of pintos, green beans or limas, works just fine."

"Two cans had been given away as of Monday evening. Gail Brown said they were both Luck’s brand. 'But if someone wants a can of Bush beans, I’m not too proud,' she said. 'I’ll buy them whatever they want.'

The Arizona Republic. "It wasn't exactly a big-tent revival inside an Arizona Biltmore ballroom Thursday, but real estate analyst RL Brown certainly gave a 'come to Jesus' talk to the audience about the housing industry. His message: Sellers and home builders need to get real. If a more realistic approach isn't taken, the market will continue to slug along."

"He cautioned builders to reduce inventories of new and resale homes, build more affordable housing and work to attract new consumers. Too many of them are waiting to see if the market will continue to slow. 'The housing consumer needs to be re-energized,' he said. 'They need to come back from vacation because they are on one right now.'"

"Mike Jackson, CEO the largest U.S. auto retailer, offered his views about the automotive marketplace and the outlook for the 2007 model year. 'Pickup trucks and their decline are directly affected by adversity in the economy. Declining sales (are) an indication of stress in the economy. Everybody knows there will be a slowdown in housing, and all these construction people are saying, 'It's time to play it safe.' People can postpone.'"

The Oregonian. "August added new signs that the Portland area's once-blistering real estate market is cooling off. Home sales volumes in Oregon were 20 percent lower than a year earlier and the number of new listings increased."

"'Our market is kind of settling out,' said Marcia Kies, an agent in Lake Oswego. 'House prices are holding, or even going up a little, but they're not going up freakily.'"