The Gazette reports from Colorado. "One Colorado Springs-area home builder is offering landscaping, a sprinkler system and special financing to woo buyers. Another builder is telephoning previous customers in hopes of attracting buyers."

"And several builders have joined forces in a first-ever marketing blitz to promote a couple of hundred unsold homes."

"Even as Pikes Peak region builders look for ways to spur sales, a report Wednesday provided fresh evidence that housing demand has slowed dramaticallys. The number of single-family home-building permits issued in El Paso County plunged 45.5 percent to 188 in October compared with the same month last year."

"Building permits this year will fall short of records set in 2005 and 2004, when permits topped 5,000. The Springs slide has the potential to whack the local economy like a two-byfour upside the head. The home-building industry employs thousands, and some builders already have said they’ve laid off some employees."

"So far this year, the total dollar value of permits for new single-family homes, townhomes and other residential construction has fallen by nearly $165 million, according to Regional Building."

"The results aren’t in on last month’s marketing campaign by 16 home builders, to market about 250 already-built, unsold homes, marketing director Victoria Stone said. Some builders thought it went well, but others said it fell below their expectations, she said."

The Denver Post. "A consumer advocate warned Colorado real-estate professionals Wednesday that homeowners nationally may be headed for a devastating round of foreclosures."

"'We are very concerned that we are going to see a foreclosure rate the likes of which we have never seen before,' said David Berenbaum, executive VP of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition."

"Berenbaum cited several factors: Pressures from lenders that have caused appraisers to overvalue homes, securing trillions of dollars of loans. Interest-only and other exotic loans that give home owners little or no equity. And the huge numbers of adjustable-rate loans whose monthly costs are about to jump."

"'That adjustable date is coming for many, many consumers,' he said."

"'I'll be honest with you,' said Jan Zavislan, the Colorado attorney general's consumer-protection chief. 'The problem is bigger than all the law enforcement agencies in the state put together.'"

"Sonya Leonard, who owns a real-estate firm, said her own industry is guilty of various practices that can put a false value on a house, from counting basement space in the listed square feet to undercounting how long it has been for sale."

"She told Zavislan she had complained to several state agencies and the FBI when the prospective buyers of one house wanted her to raise the price from $499,000 to $625,000 and kick back the difference to a third party."

"Jon Goodman, a Boulder real-estate lawyer, suggested two ways that mortgage fraud could be reduced without new laws or regulations. Appraisers, who are forced to choose 'between eating well and sleeping well,' should be randomly selected, he said, not chosen by a lender."

The Rocky Mountain News. "'Mortgage fraud has reached epidemic proportions,' said Ivor J. Hill, owner of Pueblo-based I.J. Hill Appraisal Services."

"In many cases of mortgage fraud, appraisers, mortgage brokers and real estate agents work together, said Lou Garone, who reviews appraisals for a Lehman Brothers company. Often, they work with an investor who gets a loan for far more than the market value of the house and then lets the home go into foreclosure."

"Denver attorney John Head, along with several Realtors and brokers in the audience, said the state isn't doing enough to crack down on mortgage fraud. James Spray of America's Mortgage LLC said bringing cases of mortgage fraud to the attorney general's office 'is like complaining to a black hole.'"

"(Realtor) Sonja Leonard said that in one case, a Denver home was purchased for $1.3 million in December, listed for $2.25 million in April, and the price was lowered to $2.15 million in June. Then in August, it was placed under contract for $3.1 million."

"In another recent case, she said, a client was listing a home at $499,000 and an investor group offered $625,000. When Leonard Leonard suspected a scam and turned it down, she said the investor threatened her with a 'drive-by shooting.'"

The Denver Business Journal. "Denver area third-quarter housing starts fell 22 percent from the same period last year, from 4,889 new homes to 3,830. The year-to-date rate through the third quarter declined 3 percent, from 19,568 in 2005 to 18,908 in 2006."

"Inventory continues to climb, with 31,450 homes on the market at the end of September -- an increase of 16 percent compared to the same time last year. Still, prices remain high, with 54 percent of new homes falling in the $200,000-to-$350,000 range. Homes priced above $500,000 made up 14 percent of the market."

"'Consumer financial stress has increased, and many potential home buyers are worried about high foreclosure rates or are waiting for the market to normalize,' said John Covert, director of Metrostudy's Denver division. 'These factors have led to softening demand and increased levels of both existing and new home inventory.'"