The Portsmouth Herald reports on Maine. "After a tough year in the residential real estate market, industry representatives along the Seacoast say they are optimistic about 2007. 'Values have fallen, in some cases, to what would have to be described as bargain levels,' said John Rice, chairman of the Seacoast Board of Realtors. 'While values should continue to slightly decline through 2007 as inventory is absorbed, it is likely that we are near the bottom of this correction.'"

"Sales of single-family existing homes across Maine were down by more than 12 percent from November 2005 to November 2006, with median sale prices down nearly 4 percent, according to the Maine Association of Realtors."

The Providence Business News from Rhode Island. "A partner in the team developing the One Ten Luxury Residences says the project has changed scope, with hotel space replacing almost half of the condominiums previously planned for the building. The project will now include only 70 luxury condominium units, instead of the 130 formerly planned."

"Critics of the recent push for condominium projects downtown may view the changing of the One Ten project as a sign of a slumping market. Last year, the developers of One Ten had said that despite the other condominium projects, such as The Residences at The Westin Providence and WaterPlace, that were slated to come online in Providence, the market would still be able to absorb the combined 400 units their project would add."

"But University of Rhode Island economist Leonard Lardaro said that while he does have some concerns about the downtown projects, he doesn’t see many signs that they might fail."

"'So far, things look extremely good, but they just look too good,' Lardaro said. 'It just seems that the condominium prices got ahead of themselves here, more than they should have, and so some kind of correction is warranted.'"

The Boston Globe from Massachusetts. "A year ago, developers John Judge and Tom Truong arrived at the edges of a still solid real estate market with a lofty goal to go along with their plan to make money."

"Now, 13 months later Judge and Truong have built just four condos, with only two of those units under agreement. They are unloading four other stately red-brick buildings in separate sales to private investors and to a nonprofit."

"The pair's Chelsea retreat isn't unusual. Developers who snapped up properties in better times now face long odds trying to sell them in a stagnant real estate market. 'It's not a good time to be building condos,' said economist Patrick Newport. 'If they started out when prices were appreciating, they assumed they would keep going up, and they would make a profit. That just didn't happen.'"

"When the real estate market turns, the Chelseas of the world often are hit earliest and hardest. Condo sales in this city, for example, plunged by two-thirds through the first 11 months of 2006."

"If Truong and Judge are ruing their venture, they aren't saying so. Indeed, they offer little introspection or explanation about what went awry, other than bad timing. 'The market did not hold up,' said Truong. 'We're being prudent businessmen.'"

"Not too far along they showed signs of buyers' remorse, and got a taste of the difficulties ahead. Last August, with permits in hand for three buildings, they put all seven properties up for auction. The pair ultimately decided not to accept any of the offers because they were too low, Truong said."

"'We tested the market,' he said. 'There was a lot of interest, but we weren't going to give them away.'"