A housing report from the Idaho Statesman. "The inventory of vacant single-family residential construction lots and unsold speculative homes rose dramatically in the third quarter of this year, according to a recent survey. The survey's author and veteran Treasure Valley builders believe the increases will provide potential home buyers with more options, which in turn will help drive area home prices lower."

"The survey, by a local Web site that tracks new subdivisions, vacant lots and unsold spec homes in the Valley, showed that 7,740 lots got preliminary approval in Ada County during the third quarter, bringing the total number of available lots to 25,883."

"Recent industry statistics show that the drop in area home sales during the third quarter shaved 3.5 percent off the median price of an Ada County home between July and September. The median price at the end of September was $240,000."

"Wayne Forrey, director of development for Kastera Homes in Eagle, said the growing inventory of building lots and unsold homes means the turnaround for the home building industry will not be immediate. 'It's going to take a while to absorb all of that (inventory),' Forrey said. 'And the high end housing market will be slowest to recover. We have a disproportionate number of homes priced over $300,000. But we don't have many buyers at that price range.'"

"The Treasure Valley area housing market will remain strong as long as Idaho employment growth remains among the strongest in the nation, said Don Hubble, owner of Hubble Homes in Meridian. 'Another problem is that most of the jobs being created are in the $35,000-a-year range, which are not top-paying jobs. And that is going to limit the parts of the market that people can afford,' he said."

The Morning News from Arkansas. "After a five-year bull run in area residential home construction and record real estate prices, the latest evidence suggests a construction correction is underway. The University of Arkansas report found that while the housing pipeline remains clogged with an oversupply of unoccupied homes, the overall number of building permits dropped more than 60 percent in the year-over-year quarter."

"Rogers saw the biggest decline with 305 permits in the third quarter of 2005 dropping to only 71 in 2006, a drop of almost 77 percent. Permits for Fayetteville and Bella Vista also fell sharply by 125 percent and 122 percent, respectively."

"One factor seen as a step in addressing the oversupply of upscale housing inventory was the declining average home value for the permits issued. A year ago, Bentonville's home value permits were priced near $225,000. More recently, the permit averages are for homes priced at $177,000, according to the report."

"Rogers saw home permit values drop by nearly $50,000 to an average of $162,734 in the most recent quarter."

"Kathy Deck, associate director for the Center for Buinesss and Economic Research, said the present oversupply is a result of too many builders in the game. 'While builders may only start a few projects at time, the present abundance is an aggregated effect. There have been so many houses completed that even our strong growth can't absorb them all,' she said."

"'While there is a public perception of greedy sellers, we have found that many times it's just a matter of what they have invested in the property,' (realtor) Austin Bivens said."

"Some sellers have reduced prices in their homes with values over $300,000, he said. 'I have seen more than one seller cut the price to move the house and then have had to take a check to closing to make up the shortfall,' he said."

"Bivens said more recently he has witnessed a tightening in appraisal values under the direction of local lenders. 'I had a contract with a buyer, but it didn't close because the appraisal came in too low. I relisted the property and quickly got another buyer and again the appraisal was short. On the third try, I finally got the deal closed.' Bivens said."

"Tightening appraisals produce a forced price reduction. Property can't be sold if the bank says it's not worth the asking price, he added."

The Arkansas Democrat Gazette. "The increase in the number of completed but unoccupied homes in Benton and Washington counties is part of a booming building cycle that will continue for the next six months, the lead researcher on the Skyline Report said."

"'It is all about the pipeline,' Kathy Deck said. 'But we are beginning to see the market forces do what we were expecting it to do,' she said."

"The inventory of unoccupied houses rose most dramatically in Benton County, where an increase of 229 percent to about 2, 200 was reported in the third quarter of 2006 from the same quarter of 2005."

"In Washington County, the increase was only 17 percent, or about 600 in the third quarter of 2006 compared with the third quarter of 2005. There were 2, 956 unoccupied houses reported in both counties."

"'Yes, there is an oversupply, but we are seeing a lot of activity,' broker Meza Harris said. But the general price of some houses is down, Harris said. Harris said the phenomenal growth of housing prices and demand over the past two years has become an accepted, and expected, perception of Northwest Arkansas. 'We’ve gotten used to the success. We just got spoiled,' she said."

"'That is, of course, what inventory does. It drives down prices and puts more pressure on all the market’s properties,' Deck said. 'That is the market at work. And that is true in most economies, not just in real estate,' she said."

"The number of new housing starts dropped to the lowest point recorded in the two-year study, to 204. The number of lots approved for active subdivisions in the third quarter was 19,543, meaning a supply of lots sufficient for 112.9 months at current market demand."