The November numbers for Arizona are out. "The local single-family resale market has settled into a very stable pattern, from the hyper-activity of last year. 'Even though mortgage interest rates have been declining for the last few months, limited home appreciation and household income continues to raise concern about the ability of some homeowners to maintain their homes,' said Jay Butler, at ASU. 'This may be especially evident for those that have used some of the more creative financing instruments, such as option payment plans and initially low interest rate adjustable mortgages.'"

The East Valley Tribune. "'Right now it’s just sort of in a stable situation,' said Butler. 'There’s no real reason to see big upward swings or downward swings in the market,' he said."

"So far this year, there have been 62,415 sales compared with 104,360 during the same period in 2005."

The Arizona Republic. "5,040 homes sold for the month of November. Last year, nearly 7,200 homes sold in November. The sales volume was the lowest for a November since 2002."

"'Instead of being overactive, or no pulse, it's running at a normal pulse,' said Butler. 'It's a good, strong pulse. It's just not the pulse people like.'"

"Prices varied widely throughout the Valley. For example, the median price of a home sold in Scottsdale was $630,000, about 5.9 percent higher than the same time last year. Meanwhile, median prices in Goodyear dropped 11.9 percent to $252,000."

The Albuquerque Tribune from New Mexico. "Will housing prices ever stop rising? The question becomes more acute when looking at the November home sales figures released Tuesday by the Albuquerque Metropolitan Board of Realtors."

"The 935 units sold in November represent a 17.3 percent decrease compared to a year earlier. Meanwhile, the number of homes on the market as of Sunday, 4,363, is nearly 52 percent more than the 2,263 from the same day a year earlier."

"Despite the saturation of homes on the market, the median sales price rose 7.3 percent from $178,900 in November 2005 to $192,000 last month. 'It can't continue like that,' said Cathy Colvin, who leads the realtors board. 'Not with the amount of homes people have to choose from.'"

The Rocky Mountain News From Colorado. "The rental vacancy rate for single-family homes in the third quarter for the Denver area fell to 6.4 percent, according to a report. A record number of home foreclosures and a soft housing market have increased the supply of rental homes, driving up the vacancy rate, said Gordon Von Stroh, a professor at the University of Denver."

"The foreclosures also increase the supply of renters, he said. 'Let's say your home goes into foreclosure and you have three or four kids,' Von Stroh said. 'Chances are, you will be looking to rent a home.'"

"The difficulty in selling homes in today's market is also increasing the rental pool of houses. Ryan McMaken, spokesman for the Division of Housing, has seen it in the northeast Denver neighborhood where he lives. Some of his neighbors who have been transferred from Denver can't sell their homes, so they're renting them out instead, he said."

"But Von Stroh said that people often can't rent homes for enough to cover their mortgages. The average monthly rental price for all homes was $957.28 per month, compared with $912.47 in 2005. However, average monthly rates are still slightly less than they were three years ago."

The Denver Post. "At 7.4 percent, condos have the highest vacancy rate. In comparison, single-family houses had a 6.5 percent vacancy rate; townhouses, 5.2 percent; duplexes, 6.5 percent; triplexes, 6 percent; and fourplexes, 6.7 percent."

"'Condos seem to be sensitive when there are downturns,' said McMaken. 'If we end up (building) a lot of condos that aren't in high demand, they'll end up on the rental market.'"

"Last month, 5,051 homes in Colorado entered some stage of foreclosure, up 88 percent from November 2005. 'It's sort of the tip of the iceberg, and the problems are going to get worse before they will get better,' U.S. Bank regional economist Tucker Hart Adams said."

"'I think we will see housing prices declining, sales down and new construction down for another year,' Adams said."

"Among the 200 large metropolitan areas tracked, Greeley had the highest foreclosure rate. In Weld County, 428 properties entered some stage of foreclosure last month, up 13 percent from the previous month. Weld County had one new filing for every 155 households, more than six times the national average."

"Colorado should continue to see improvement relative to states such as Nevada, California, Arizona and Florida, said economist Jeff Thredgold."

"'Nevada, California, Arizona and, to some extent, Florida will continue to move up in the ranking because there were a substantial amount of flippers and home speculators involved,' Thredgold said. 'Many used interest-only mortgages to finance a property. As the market slows down, those speculators would be the first ones to really feel the pain.'"

"Adams said Colorado's foreclosure problem, and the downturn in the housing market, is far from over. She warned that its impact will be felt throughout the rest of the economy. 'Housing prices are continuing to go down, and even the people who hang on to their houses have to struggle to do it and cut back in other areas,' Adams said."