What do you see in your housing market this weekend? Auctions? New statistics? The Lowell Sun. "Several real estate experts have been quick to say that the current housing slump is nothing compared to that of the early 1990s. But in at least one sense, it is. A total of 12,945 foreclosures were initiated in Massachusetts through Sept. 30. At the current pace, that would result in a full-year total of 17,307 -- a couple hundred higher than the all-time state high set in 1991."

The Washington Post. "Offers to purchase homes can include all sorts of requirements for things that must happen for the deal to go through, known as contingency clauses. For sellers, the most troublesome is the home-sale contingency, in which the purchase depends on the buyers in turn finding buyers for their own home."

"Such clauses were rare during the real estate boom of recent years. However, as the market has slowed, they have begun to reappear. 'Here they wanted to string my seller out for basically four months, and then there'd be no guarantee that come February there would even be a closing,' said agent Jane Fairweather (in) Bethesda. 'What they were telling the sellers was that they didn't want any risk in this deal.'"

From New Zealand. "Signs of uncertainty are creeping in to the local residential property market as the monthly median selling price suddenly slipped, soon after reaching peak levels."

"After hitting a record $370,000 in September, the median plunged $25,000 to $345,000 last month in Tauranga, and the volume of sales, in what is supposed to be the busiest time of the year, dipped to 151, from 165. 'It's hard to gauge what people are thinking - there is very little action in beachfront properties,' said Max Martin, Harcourts franchise owner."

The Houston Chronicle. "'We're building too many homes in Houston,' said Smith. 'Builders in Houston have come to believe that Houston is cushioned and immune from the housing weaknesses nationwide,' he said. 'We're starting to build up excess supply,' said Smith, who grew to prominence in 1985 when he predicted the dramatic fall in real estate prices at a time when developers were enjoying a great market."