Newsday reports from New York. "Two months ago, Chuck Davis finished building a new three-bedroom, two-bath ranch in Shirley, and he put it on the market for $315,000. So far, however, Davis hasn't had any calls on the house, which, although new, is competing with 1,000 existing-home listings in Mastic and Shirley."

"Buyers are holding out for better prices and, in some cases, are worried about selling the home they already own. So, even with limited new housing inventory, builders like Davis are feeling the downturn, and are, in turn, slowing their production. 'I'm maxed out right now until I unload some of these homes,' Chuck Davis said."

"Similar stories abound, and the incentives are growing. Builder Alec Ornstein in Garden City, is offering buyers an upgraded kitchen or, in some cases, a year of paid real estate taxes. Steven Klar, an East Meadow developer, is throwing in a Mercedes with some of his homes. 'It's a buyer's opportunity right now,' Klar said."

"But for many would-be new home buyers, it's not that simple, said Centereach resident Phyllis Lombardi. Last spring, Lombardi and her husband were to close on a new $612,000 home in Mount Sinai built by Pulte Homes."

"After putting their home up for sale last November, the Lombardis found that they had hit the market with exactly the wrong timing. May approached, their new house was ready for closing, and they still hadn't sold their existing one, even after dropping the price twice."

"So they pulled out of their deal with Pulte, which refunded all but $20,000 of their deposit. 'I essentially feel like I paid $20,000 for the fun of picking out my colors and watching the house being built,' said Phyllis Lombardi."

"Now, the Lombardis are trying again, especially since Pulte said it would put the $20,000 toward another house if they buy within a year. This time, though, Phyllis Lombardi said she'll sell first. 'Even if you had to find temporary housing, it's better than what we went through,' she said."

"Robert Wieboldt, executive VP of the Long Island Builders Institute, said some builders may be forced to drop their prices. Others are holding off buying any new land."

"'It's a little tenuous right now,' said Victor Irizarry, president of Whitford Homes in Ronkonkoma. 'You're always anticipating moving forward, but right now, I'm holding back a little bit.'"

"Experts said they're hoping builders and bankers remember lessons of the early 1990s to prevent severe losses. And they're hoping for a spring 2007 comeback. Said Ornstein: 'If you didn't overleverage and overpay for land, you ... should be in a strong position to be able to hold on.'"

From Inman News. "'There's a very big standoff going on … It's like a buffet table at a banquet where they keep bringing more plates from the kitchen,' said David Michonski, CEO of a large brokerage firm in Manhattan. It's as if buyers are thinking, 'I like this shrimp, but maybe there's lobster coming out,' he said."

"The slowing market in Manhattan, he said, is being driven more by an oversupply of new properties than by the resale market. Inventory is up 65 percent from last year in Manhattan and the majority of those properties are new construction, he said."

"Today buyers in many markets know they have the upper hand and are letting homes sit on the market longer in hopes of finding a better deal. There's a lack of urgency in pushing buying decisions, brokers say."

"'I don't see a lack of confidence (in home buying),' said Jeffrey Bastress, broker in Sterling, Mass. 'I see it more as they know they have choices so they think, 'why rush into it?' With interest rates remaining low, buyers today are more likely to wait on the sidelines until they find a good deal, he said."

"Once buyers do make offers, they're being tough in what they ask for, Bastress said, referring to a recent client who at the last minute demanded another $5,000 off the home's asking price for no reason other than knowing the seller had no choice but to agree."

"Bastress said the reason buyers aren't moving quickly comes down to the fact that they have no compelling motivation to do otherwise. They know they have the upper hand and though Bastress said he hates to use the phrase 'sweet revenge,' 'that's exactly what they're doing.'"

"Home sellers, meanwhile, see the future as the unknown and some think that next year's market may be worse so they feel they have to sell now, he said. 'The advice I give sellers is that you're going to have to put a price on your home that you won't regret selling for and also a price that if you don't sell you won't regret keeping it,' Bastress said."