The Gazette.net reports from Maryland. "The financial incentives that homebuilders are dangling before suddenly reluctant buyers may get even more enticing as the slumping home sales market crawls to 2007. 'Builders will find every conceivable way to boost their sales' to unload inventories during the slowdown, said Gopal Ahluwalia, for the National Association of Home Builders."

"Some builders in Maryland are offering luxury cars, said John Kortecamp, CEO of the Maryland Home Builders Association. Such gifts, while they may seem significant to buyers, are minor expenses to builders charging $1 million or more for a house, Kortecamp said."

"The program eases the concerns of gun-shy buyers, said John Lavery of Woodmore North homes. 'We found that the concern among buyers was that there might be a better deal later,' Lavery said."

"Incentives are also being offered to condominium buyers. Builders lost 'significant' confidence in that market in the second quarter, according to Ann Marie Moriarty, a spokeswoman for the association. 'Responding to a set of special questions, 82 percent of condo developers said they had noticed buyer resistance to current prices and, of those, more than one-fourth reported that they have reduced prices,' she wrote."

"Ahluwalia said, 'Lots of investors came into the marketplace and pushed the prices up the past few years and now prices are coming down to where they should be maybe.'"

The Baltimore Sun. "Greg Siciliano first put his Ocean City bayside condo on the market for $699,000 in May. By August, he had dropped the price of the two-year-old, two-story condo to $550,000, and had thrown into the package two WaveRunners and the pier out back. 'I'm just a little discouraged with the lack of interest,' said Siciliano."

"He and other sellers have found their properties stuck in a glut of condos and townhouses that have flooded the market. Siciliano's condo is one of nearly 1,700 condos for sale in Ocean City, and there is nearly twice as much inventory as in July 2005. In the first half of this year, 528 condos were sold in Ocean City, 42 percent fewer than in the first half of last year."

"Linda Moran, a real estate agent in Ocean City, said she started noticing the slowdown in October. 'It progressively has gotten worse, with more and more people putting properties on the market and less and less buyers,' Moran said. 'We're at the saturation point of listings at this point, but they're not selling.'"

From the Connection. "Statistics show the exurbs have been hardest hit by the region’s cooling housing market. 'The further out you go, the more significant the decline in contract activity is,' said David Howell, broker in McLean."

"In Washington, D.C., home contract activity fell 7 percent in July compared to a year ago. In Montgomery County, Md., activity slowed 24 percent. In Arlington County, activity slowed 23 percent. In the City of Alexandria, activity fell 28 percent. For Fairfax County, activity was cut by more than a third. In Loudoun County, contract activity slowed more than 40 percent. In Prince William County, activity slowed nearly 50 percent compared to last year."

"Ernie Miller, a broker in Springfield, said the market decline started from the outside and worked its way inward. 'I’ve been doing this for 34 years, and when it slows down, we see slowing from outlying regions, and then it starts to creep in,' said Miller."

"He thinks the real estate boom of the past five years pushed prices up too fast. When homes were selling at the peak of the market, buyers overreached, taking out adjustable mortgage loans and buying at the top of their ability. In addition, speculators entered the market hoping to profit off higher home appreciation rates."

"Last month, inventory was more than double what it was the same time last year. Together the two trends have put buyers in the front seat, but many are being patient. 'Some [buyers] are just waiting for all this to settle down,' said Miller. According to MRIS, home appreciation in July dropped 4 percent in Northern Virginia compared to last year."

"'Some people are forced to put their homes on the market,' said Lawrence Yun, senior economist with the National Association of Realtors, adding that many sellers may no longer be able to cover their mortgages after being squeezed by adjustable interest rate loans that had extremely low introductory rates. 'They may not be able to service these debts,' said Yun."

"Several realtors have noticed the same thing. 'All of a sudden interest rates have jumped up and it’s just taking its toll. There’s nothing left for groceries and so on,' said Miller. 'We’re seeing foreclosures now like you can’t believe.'"