The Boston Globe reports on the condo market. "International design superstar Philippe Starck and his partners in a Boston condominium project, struggling to sell their luxury units in a stagnant market, have dropped their asking prices an average of 12 percent and hired a new real estate agent."

"Dan LaBarre, a South End agent, said D4's main problem was always the unit prices. With some priced as high as $950 per square foot, D4 missed out on a hot downtown condo market in 2005, agents said. 'Unless they're doing a substantial price adjustment to reflect the current market,' he said, 'it's still not going to sell.'"

"Coldwell Banker plans, for example, to relist a three-bedroom penthouse at $1.65 million. It was first priced at $1.77 million and dropped in July to $1.71 million. A one-bedroom will be reduced to $600,000 from $670,000."

From Newsday in New York. "For the first time in nine years, Nassau County's closed median home prices dropped over the last year, leaving experts to wonder whether the housing market's downturn could be more significant, and longer-lasting, than first thought."

"'This is the turn that we've been waiting for for a long time,' said Pearl Kamer, the chief economist of the Long Island Association. 'This is only the beginning of the downward cycle and only the beginning of the unwinding of the housing bubble. The price declines could continue for a long time.'"

"Part of the problem for the Island, said Prudential Douglas Elliman CEO Dorothy Herman, is that much of the available inventory is somewhat 'run of the mill.' If all the homes are too similar, Herman said, it becomes very difficult to sell when there's a glut."

The Journal News in new York. "Spurred by slower sales, homeowners and their Realtors are turning to a Roman Catholic tradition of burying a small statue of St. Joseph in yards of properties for sale."

"Single-family home sales in Westchester and Putnam counties fell 14.9 percent and 5 percent, respectively, during the second quarter."

"In White Plains, G. Siccardi & Family sells about a dozen St. Joseph figurines a week, with real estate agents sometimes buying a half dozen or more at a time. 'Our suppliers are out of stock,' said owner Gerry Siccardi. 'Apparently, all over the United States people are buying them.'"

"Mount Vernon real estate agent Elvira Castillo said faith in St. Joseph can help move a house, but not counteract an unreasonable asking price. 'You can bury 10 St. Josephs, and it's never going to sell,' Castillo said of some sellers' unrealistic expectations."