The Post Tribune reports from Indiana. "Some single-family residential properties in Northwest Indiana are taking a month longer to sell than last year, but fortunately, the housing bubble has not burst here as it has in other regions of the country, according to local real estate agents and builders."

"But not all the builders are as enthusiastic about the market. In Porter County, builder Steve Dalton confirms he is seeing slower sales. Dalton said some 'speculative' homes have not sold as fast as some businessmen hoped. Some sit on lots north of Valparaiso, waiting for buyers."

"In Valparaiso's Coolwood Estates, Bill Hanna has had his home up for sale for four months. Initially, there was some interest, but it has dropped off substantially in the last month, Hanna said. And now, winter is approaching, a season that has sellers such as Hanna concerned. 'It just sort of dried up with the change of seasons,' Hanna said."

The Columbus Dispatch from Ohio. "Property seems to be easy pickings at real-estate foreclosure auctions, which are going strong in Ohio and other parts of the Midwest. But some in the industry consider realestate foreclosure auctions something of a game between banks and buyers. That’s because these aren’t absolute auctions, in which the final bid is the accepted price."

"'The name of the game is the bank always wins,' said Raymond Smith, a buyer’s broker."

"(A) three-bedroom, 2,282-square-foot house was the last one to be auctioned at the event, and the auction ended at $185,000. The owner, Deutsche Bank, didn’t accept the offer and didn’t come to terms with the bidder. The house has been relisted, this time for $225,000."

"At most foreclosure auctions, buyers pay the price that the seller insists on. Freddie Mac, for example, required a higher price than the winning $29,500 bid for a condominium on Cherry Hollow Road in Columbus. It settled with the bidder on an even $30,000."

The Detroit Free Press from Michigan. "Sales of houses and condominiums have plunged during the past year, in the worst housing market since at least the 1980s. As a result, prices have begun to decline sharply."

"Gilda Bone put her family's Saline duplex on the market two years ago, she's cut the price from $257,000 to $199,000, and still has no buyer."

"John and Beth Fohrman of Ann Arbor, each brought a home to their recent marriage. They sold John's house after cutting the price, closed on their new house and put Beth's condo up for sale in 2005. The condo remains on the market after five price cuts."

"The sales slump has been especially difficult for people such as John and Linda Bruce, who are paying two mortgages, one for the home in Grosse Pointe Farms they haven't been able to sell in more than a year, and one on their new, smaller ranch home in St. Clair Shores. 'We were not prepared for what's happened here. ... It has not been easy,' John Bruce said."

"Many market-watchers blame today's slump on a price bubble that finally burst. 'A lot of things are overpriced,' said Sherri Richwine, a broker in Ann Arbor. 'People are not being realistic. Just because they received a large paper appreciation, they think they should be able to sell it for that. In reality, the gain is not as great as they thought.'"

The Appleton Post Cresent from Wisconsin. "With fewer willing buyers, sellers as a whole are dipping prices, 3.6 percent in the median price, from $138,300 to $133,300, for the quarter in the northeastern part of the state, according to the Wisconsin Realtors Association."

"Chuck Peeters, general sales manager for Coldwell Banker in Appleton said properties around the Fox Valley ranging between $80,000 and $120,000 are selling best. 'We have about 120 homes in that range available now,' he said."

"Homes ranging between $200,000 and $300,000 are not selling as well, Peeters said. 'There's quite a bit of inventory in that range,' he said. Coldwell Banker had 253 properties listed in that price range across the Valley."

"'Sellers are holding and buyers are waiting for that good deal and expecting to buy something for 50 cents on the dollar,' said Jim Zimanek, a residential loan officer in Appleton. 'It's more like a stalemate. Both sides are sitting idle, which may be contributing to the slowdown in the number of transactions we're seeing.'"

The Star Tribune from Minnesota. "Home foreclosures in Minneapolis and St. Paul are rising at a rate that is beginning to alarm officials in both cities and threatening to destabilize some neighborhoods."

"Similar trouble is evident in some metro suburbs and around the state, as more homeowners who plunged into the housing boom are now struggling with mortgages they can't pay."

"In St. Paul, foreclosures are on a pace this year to be three times as high as they were in 2003. In Minneapolis, foreclosures have increased by about 79 percent compared with last year."

"'There are more and more people who have purchased houses using mortgage products that they didn't fully understand,' said Cliff Morse, a mortgage financial planner in Chaska. 'Now people are falling backwards.'"

"As of Nov. 3, there were 1,353 sheriff foreclosure sales in Minneapolis, according to data released by the city. During all of 2005, there were 870. And there were 414 in 2002."

"Roberta Englund, a neighborhood leader on the north side, said she is watching with dismay as homes whose owners can no longer pay their mortgages get taken over by banks and become vacant. 'I don't think there's any way to explain adequately how devastating one or more vacant houses on a block is to a community,' Englund said."

"Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak said foreclosures are now the top housing issue in the city. 'It's on some level the underside of the refinancing boom,' he said, 'but it also has deeper aspects including financial literacy and risky lenders who sometimes don't have the best intentions.'"