The Flint Journal reports from Michigan. "The housing slump appears to be taking its toll even here in the lap of lakefront luxury, with for sale signs going up and prices coming down, if only to a point; sellers still would like a cool $2.6 million for that three-fireplace dream house, on N. Long Lake Road."

"That's just a sampling of the glut of homes for sale on Lake Fenton, where one resident recently counted 181 'for sale' signs. On Margaret Drive, along the lake's northwest side, at least 14 homes are on the market."

"'I'm going to wait until things go back to normal,' said Langdon Mayhew. 'It's just gotten this bad in the last year. There are an unusually high number of signs.'"

"'People are living closer and closer to their income level, and a lot may be in over their heads,' said (realtor) Mary Ann Tremaine. Tremaine, who has listings in the area, said she's not shocked the nationwide trend, too many homes, not enough buyers, has hit Lake Fenton."

"'What does surprise me is that so few are being sold,' she said."

"Flint Area Association of Realtors CEO Doris Nurenberg said the slow housing market was bound to affect once-sought-after lakefront properties. 'The areas that are the hardest hit were booming 18 months ago,' she said, adding that asking prices may have to drop before 'Sold' signs start popping up. 'There's a bottleneck of houses for sale, but people want the prices from two years ago.'"

"James Lozon has lived on Lake Fenton for 30 years and said he's been blown away by the number of properties on the market. 'This is the most signs ever,' he said."

The Star Tribune. "The Twin Cities housing market had a case of the sags in October; sagging prices, sagging ranks of listings and sagging numbers of closed sales."

"After more than five years of commanding double-digit price increases in some areas, declining prices are an indication that buyers truly have the upper hand in the market and sellers are finally budging on price."

"One of broker John Andersons' clients recently bought a house for $75,000 less than the original asking price. 'After five years of being tough to buy, it's a great time to buy,' he said."

"Some sellers have no choice but to cut their prices to attract attention. Meanwhile, buyers have plenty of options. During November there are expected to be 9.84 homes on the market for every expected buyer. That measure is up 57 percent from the same time last year."

"The price declines also could be a reflection of changes in the upper-bracket market, which... facing a serious oversupply issue. According to the weekly market report by the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors, during October there was a 20-month supply of houses priced at $1 million or more."

The Journal Sentinel from Wisconsin. "More homeowners planted 'for sale' signs around the Milwaukee area in October, but fewer home shoppers agreed to pay for their removal."

"The four-county region's existing-home market is suffering a double whammy of rising supply and waning demand, industry officials said Monday. They cited Metro Multiple Listing Service's report of 1,548 resales last month, the slowest October in three years, as 3,186 new listings hit the market."

"'It's sellers who have to get acclimated. I tell them, 'You have one house to sell, but buyers have many to choose from,' said Tammy Maddente, board president of Metro MLS."

"It's payback time for buyers, real estate agents say. In this year's first 10 months, metro Milwaukee sales are down 4.8% and 'for sale' offerings are up 16.1%, MLS figures show." "'Our biggest difficulty is keeping deals together," said Maddente. 'When something (bad) comes back on an inspection, they want to reopen negotiations.'"

"Deals are being made, sometimes at a snail's pace, 'as sellers become more realistic,' said Mike Ruzicka, president of Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors."

"The secret to selling a home successfully in this year, said Howard Loeb, broker-associate in Mequon: 'Price right, present well - and be open to negotiation.' 'Buyers like a seller who's flexible,' Loeb said."