What do you see in your housing market this weekend? Graphs in the local paper? How about a letter to the editor? "People should have to pass a test to be able to vote in Massachusetts. The person from North Andover who thinks his taxes should go down just because his property value has declined is probably one of those who shouted and stomped his feet at Town Meeting."

"Anyone following the real estate market knows that North Andover's real estate prices are falling faster than other towns. You don't lower taxes by reducing property values; you just lose money!"

Any speculators? "The new home market party started when Fortune magazine anointed San Antonio the nation's strongest housing market. Out-of-town investors flooding into San Antonio this year have glutted the market with rental homes, and the average rent has dropped $202 a month since this time last year, according to the San Antonio Board of Realtors."

"At the end of October, renters had their pick of more than 2,000 homes. So far this year, more than 10,650 homes have gone onto the rental market, 22 percent more homes than last year. Kevin Knight with Liberty Management Inc. said the out-of-state investors had a different mentality than local landlords, who traditionally bought fixer-uppers. The out-of-state investors wanted new homes that required little maintenance."

How about a poll? "Half of the responders to last week's Business Pulse survey are optimistic about the national economy in 2007. Some of your comments: 'Our business depends heavily on the housing market and next year looks bad.'"

"'Housing balloon has popped, and the rest of the economy could go either way.' 'The economy is doing well everywhere except Portland.'"

Or foreclosures. "Nearly two dozen properties on Fort Wayne’s southeast side will be auctioned in a sheriff’s sale after their owner defaulted on the $700,000 mortgage and lost them in a foreclosure."

"This foreclosure is the latest in a series of court cases involving Hicksville Bank and large numbers of foreclosures. Earlier this year, the bank filed suit against several local appraisers, alleging they inflated property values and hurt the bank financially when those loans defaulted."

Or construction trends? "At her previous job, Wendy Laxton had a ringside seat for the Las Vegas housing boom, which made Seattle's look modest. 'I still feel Seattle is growing quite a bit,' Laxton said. 'When I go to downtown Bellevue and see all the cranes going up, that's what Vegas felt like. I like to see that growth and renewal. I'm definitely optimistic.'"

Just regular statistics. "Following a national trend, the Alaska housing market seems to be cooling, with more homes on the market for longer periods of time when compared to last year. Meanwhile, the cost for homes and land continues to rise at an alarming rate."

"Alaskans had 3,401 residential properties listed for sale in November, 52 percent more than last year, according to the Alaska MLS. Developer Chuck Spinelli, owner of Spinell Homes, said the inventory in the once-promising Mat-Su market just got out of control."

"'I can't say the market has been dead, but it's not increasing in proportion to the inventory,' he said. 'There are tons of builders out there.'"