The New Mexico Business Weekly. "Albuquerque's housing market peaked in July, according to sales data. After merely slowing in July and August, sales took a dive in September, when home sales were down 17 percent compared to the same month in 2005. Perhaps more ominous than slowing sales, or possibly because of them, is the increasing number of for-sale signs sprouting in front of everything from Westside tract homes to custom-built residences in the NE Heights."

"The inventory of existing homes on the market went from 2,319 a year ago to nearly 4,700 this October, according to the Albuquerque Metropolitan Board of Realtors."

"Some solace can be found in the fact that prices are apparently holding. But agents say prices are now dropping, especially at the luxury-end of the market above $500,000. Anything over $1 million is an especially tough sell. Buyers are moving to the sidelines, agents say, and are waiting to see where the market bottoms."

"'The last couple of years, you could place a sign out front and it sold. With twice the number of properties on the market now, sellers have to price it right and it has to be in great condition,' said Greg Lobberegt, an agent who works the NE Heights."

"National influences are taking the steam out of housing here. Increases in mortgage rates have taken some buyers out of the market, but there other issues. Speculative investors who were buying up homes in Westside subdivisions are disappearing, moving on to Texas where starter homes are cheaper and appreciation might be higher, brokers say."

"California's weak market also is hurting Albuquerque. People there can't sell their homes and that is reducing the flow of new residents and cash into this market, says Seth Jacob, a veteran East Mountain agent who brokered several sales to Californians earlier this year."

"'I just lowered the price of two of my listings in the NE Heights and in the mountains. I've seen a lot of price reductions, particularly in the higher price ranges. Things are sitting longer,' Jacob says."

"Bankers also are seeing the slowdown. 'We're entering a challenging environment right now. The more people read the national media stories about the housing downturn, the more they shy away from making commitments. The more stories they do, the more the consumer says, 'I ought to wait if the market has peaked,' Charter Bank's Lyle Greenberg says."

"Developers plan thousands of new residences over the next five years, especially along the I-25 corridor. Real estate agents are hoping that banks put the brakes on construction lending to slow the tide of home building. Bankers say developers will slow down if the market drops."

"'Demand has slowed and the builders will back off a little,' says Rick White, head of Compass Bank's real estate construction and development group. 'I'd be a lot more nervous doing what I do if I was doing it in Phoenix.'"

The Denver Post. "Carly and Todd Zody got way more than they bargained for when they bought their home in the Villages at Centennial. The couple were set to buy a townhouse when KB Home offered to sell them a larger duplex in the same neighborhood for the same price, plus $30,000 in upgrades."

"'The base price on the duplex is $20,000 more than on the townhomes,' Carly Zody said."

"In the past six weeks, KB Home has sold 81 homes at discounted prices. It still has 53 homes it wants to unload at discounts of as much as $20,000 each, and it will pay closing costs. 'We typically don't have a lot of these,' said Rusty Crandall, president of KB Home Colorado. 'I think all the builders have a few more inventory homes on the market than they'd prefer because of the cancellation rates we've seen. There are some great values out there for customers who are interested and have the capability of moving in quickly.'"

"In addition to upgrades and other incentives, KB has been holding promotional events in all its neighborhoods, where its inventory homes are offered at sharply discounted prices."

"The competitive homebuilding market also has caused MDC Holdings, parent of Richmond American Homes, to be much more aggressive in its incentives, particularly on already- built inventory homes, said president David Mandarich. Village Homes is likely to start offering package incentives to real estate agents to sell the inventory homes quickly, said Jennifer Lambert-Pingrey."

From CBS 4 in Denver. "Weld County was one of the hottest housing markets in the country, until two years ago. 'At the very best, we're flat,' real estate agent Matthew Revitte told CBS News correspondent Sharon Alfonsi. 'And we could be perhaps contracting.'"

"Revitte sold many homes before oversupply and rising interest rates torpedoed the market. 'We've yet to hit bottom,' he said."

"Homebuyers with adjustable rate mortgages faced payments they couldn't afford. Those forced to sell couldn't find buyers and hundreds defaulted on their loans. Now Weld County leads the nation in foreclosures, 1 in every 168 households. That's 700 percent higher than the national average. 'Almost overnight it's like somebody turned the lights off,' Revitte said. 'Now we are going through the great correction.'"

"While the emotional toll of foreclosure is personal, the financial impact is shared. You can expect your home value to drop $10,000 or more if a neighbor defaults. 'I don't think the circumstances here in Weld County are that unique to what perhaps could happen in the rest of the country,' says Revitte."