KARE 11 reports from Minnesota. "Over the last ten years, housing prices here increased 6 to12 percent a year, in one of the longest, most profitable runs of any boom market ever in history. But the Minnesota Realtors Association wants you to understand something, it was an anomaly."

"Josh and Jen Reitan are trying to sell a great little starter home in northeast Minneapolis. When they bought it two years ago, they paid more than the asking price the day it hit the market. Today it’s a whole different market."

"'It's terribly obvious,' Josh says, 'I think we're experiencing this at both extremes.'"

"They're asking $230,000, about 10 percent more than what they paid. $230,000 is the median price for a home in the Twin Cities, so it should involve the greatest number of potential buyers. But it's been almost three months and the house hasn't moved."

"Josh and Jen are motivated sellers, they’ve already bought their next home."

"There are 25,000 homes for sale in the Twin Cities metro this week. If you're trying to unload a twin home or town home here, depending on price, you could be up against an 18-month supply or more."

"Glenn Dorfman has been with the Minnesota Realtors Association for 24 years. He believes people need to think about their homes less as an 'investment' – and more as 'a place to live.' 'If you're selling your house, you won't get what your neighbor got two years ago,' he says."

"The variables are endless. 'Timing is the most important one,' Dorfman says. If you bought in the last 2 to 3 years and you bought 100 percent equity or took equity out of your house, whatever, you're going to lose money. If you buy and hold, you're in good shape."

The Lincoln Courier from Illinois. "Logan County forclosures in 2006 continued a steady increase, reaching triple digits for a third consecutive year."

"Lincoln attorney Douglas Muck, who also was a bank director 22 years, offered reasons to why there has been such a steep increase. But there was one reason he wanted to make clear. 'My opinion is that it is the change in lending systems,' Muck said."

"Muck said a lot of mortgages are sold to secondary investors, including banks and financial institutions that are not locally based. 'They can be in California, New York, Florida; they can be anywhere,' he said. 'Home lending has become a different business in the last couple of years.'"

"Another reason is buyers simply get a loan for a house they can't afford. 'They are overpaying for the property they buy,' Muck said. 'They are using the car-buying mentality in saying, 'Can I afford the payment?'"

The Hillsdale Daily News from Michigan. "It seems like you can’t take a step in Hillsdale County, without tripping over a 'for sale' sign. More homes on the market with no comparable rise in demand, perhaps even a decrease, means prices are pressured to drop."

"Complication matters is the spike inforeclosures. are rapidly accelerating, dumping even more houses on the market. In 1999, there were 38 foreclosures carrying a value of $1.74 million. Last year, those numbers had soared to 194 and $16.7 million."

"Anne Fike, president of the Hillsdale County Board of Realtors said today’s real estate market provides an opportunity for investors if they want to buy and hold until the market improves. 'We have to make a positive out of a negative in order to move ahead,' Fike said."

"Long–time agent and broker Don Helton shakes his head at the status of the current market. 'I’ve been through four recessions affecting real estate sales,' said Helton, 'and I’ve never seen one like this.'"

"But don’t get the idea lower real estate values will quickly translate into lower property taxes, according to Nick Wheeler, who oversees the county’s equalization office. 'Sometimes, I have to tell a new owner his property taxes are going to remain the same even though he paid a lot less than the property showed value previously,' said Wheeler. 'I tell him he got a great deal.'"

The Columbus Dispatch from Ohio. "Law-enforcement officials think that the popular Short North restaurant owners ran a multimillion-dollar mortgage-fraud ring that involved foreigners buying houses in elite central Ohio neighborhoods."

"Numerous other suspicious deals across Franklin and Delaware counties also are under investigation. Authorities subpoenaed records from three other mortgage or title companies with offices in Columbus."

"Deborah Osmond of Powell was glad to hear that authorities are investigating. A house down the street from hers sold in September. A buyer paid far more than the house was worth and never moved in."

"Then, a week after the Dispatch article, another house across the street sold for an inflated price, only to sit empty. 'This has got to stop,' she said."

The Cincinnati Post. "Salaries of area workers may not be keeping up with the rising cost of buying a home, a new study suggests. The widening gap between salaries and home prices means buyers are finding new ways to finance their purchases, said Janie Wilson, president of the Northern Kentucky Association of Realtors."

"'In today's market, there are so many different types of financing,' said Wilson. 'If people have been prudent in the past with credit-type issues, then most people can buy a home. There are so many creative ways to do it that it's amazing,' she said."

The News Leader from Missouri. "Downtown developer Craig Wagoner is going to do something different for his biggest endeavor so far. Instead of putting in rental apartments, the predominant practice for him and his peers in the downtown development business, Wagoner will sell the 32 condominiums he plans to build in his latest project."

"'Downtown is ready for condos,' Wagoner said. 'People think downtown is the real thing.'"

"Several developers are, or at least thinking of, shifting gears to offer more condo units in downtown Springfield. City planners are considering streamlining the procedure for developers to divide a building into condominiums, and lenders are turning their eyes to this burgeoning market."

"'I won't be surprised if there will be hundreds and hundreds of (condominium) units (for sale) in downtown Springfield,' said Tom Nash of North American Savings Bank."