A housing report from the Washington Post. "At a recent meeting with her Las Vegas real estate firm's 200 agents, Joanne Levy told them they needed to deliver a stark message to clients. They would tell them that unsold homes are at a record level and sellers need to lower their prices."

"In other words: the boom is over. 'They want the 2004, 2005 market,' Levy said of today's clients. 'We don't have that.'"

"With stubborn sellers refusing to relent on asking prices, many prospective buyers have kept their hands in their pockets. Some industry observers fear that bull-headed home sellers could worsen a downturn by driving up the inventory of homes for sale and running off would-be buyers."

"'Sellers have not caught up with the reality of the marketplace despite the proliferation of 'For Sale' signs,' said Howard Glaser, a mortgage industry analyst in Washington, D.C. 'There is a lag period between sellers' expectations and the reality of the marketplace,' he said, and shaking them out of their high-price fantasy 'is more psychology than science.'"

"Las Vegas had 20,800 single-family homes on the market in September, a 57 percent jump from a year earlier. It's the same story in once-booming regions like California, where home prices in eight major markets declined in September compared with a year earlier."

"Despite these truths, real estate agents say, many sellers continue to overreach on their asking prices. 'I try not to list those properties,' California Association of Realtors President Vince Malta said of the overpriced homes. 'You could do that last year and someone would still come in and make an offer,' he said. 'Back then, we were all marketing geniuses.'"

"A homeowner's blind faith in the price of his or her home could be costly if it flies in the face of reality and prices continue to drop, said Stephanie Madon, a psychology professor at Iowa State University. 'If the homeowner believes the house is worth a lot and refuses to budge, it could become a self-defeating prophesy,' she said."

"In the end, stubborn sellers could lose more home value the longer they delay."

From CNN Money. "An Austin couple, Richard Morrisett and Regina Maldve, had a lot to learn about selling a home. That education is costing them big money. They had put their three-bedroom, two-bath house on the market in April for $419,000, then dropped it to $399,000. In June, just as they were moving to their new home, they finished negotiating a verbal offer of $393,000."

"Eight hours later, they had another bid - at $399,000. That's where the trouble began. They failed to land either buyer and the couple is still trying to move the property."

"When the couple finally changed brokers, they discovered they had overpriced the house, with comparables in the neighborhood about 25 percent lower. They repriced it for $365,000 but still had no bites. They dropped it to $359,000 with the same results."

"Meanwhile, they were now over-extended with two mortgages. They had counted on proceeds from the sale of the old house to pay for some upgrades on the new one. They borrowed to make their payments - and worried a lot. 'We can't carry two mortgages and other bills and credit cards,' says Maldve."

"Their salvation may be at hand. They have accepted an offer of $350,000 and took a down payment. But the new buyers have asked to delay closing until they can sell their own house. 'But we need to close before Oct. 31,' says Maldve."

"They feel they must close before the end of the month. The brinksmanship is nerve wracking. Says Morrisett. 'Even if the deal goes through, we've still lost more than $40,000, because of bad advice. Not to mention the loss of six months sleep and fights over where to get the money to tide us over.'"