The Hillsdale Daily News reports from Michigan. "Since 1994, sheriff’s foreclosure deeds have been rising steadily. In 2006, 194 sheriff’s deeds were filed and only 14 individual owners redeemed their properties. In the month of January 2007 alone, 25 sheriff’s deeds were filed. Three of the houses to be auctioned Tuesday are located in Hillsdale County."

"'We’re seeing just the tip of the iceberg, with the foreclosures (on record),' said (broker) Don Helton. 'Those sheriff’s deeds reflect just the foreclosures that are completed. There are a lot more people out there — where the (final) letter could come any day.'"

The Herald Times from Michigan. "According to Lesa Jarski, who serves as secretary/treasurer of the Water Wonderland Board of Realtors MLS Board, the 338 Otsego County homes sold in all of 2006 numbered 53 fewer than the 391 sold in 2005."

"While the number of homes sold and total sales volumes were down last year, a 13-percent drop from the previous year, Jarski said the fact waterfront home sales were down 33 percent in 2006 indicates home sales of primary residences were not that bad. 'Secondary homes have taken a hit and the waterfront homes which are selling are the more expensive ones.'"

"Overall sales volume in 2006 was down by approximately $7 million from the previous year, when a home was on the market an average of 164 days. Jarski said the 2006 average, 152 days on the market, can be somewhat deceiving when compared to 2005. 'This doesn’t take into account the houses that had been listed two or three different times.'"

"'There always seems to be a lot of peaks and valleys in real estate and while you could look at the 1990s in the county as being a kind of boom in the market, I think we’re holding our own,' Jarski said."

The Toledo Blade from Ohio. "Home sale prices dropped 7 percent last year in the Toledo area, twice as much as the decline nationwide, and they are lower than they were three years ago, a new study shows."

"The local drop seems to run counter to local real estate experts' statements that the market seldom goes up or down by much."

"Still, local agents are optimistic. 'We're trying to keep consumer confidence and motivation up,' said Ray Henderson, president of the local Realtors' group."

"Selling prices in Ohio dropped 10 percent from the end of 2005 to the end of 2006, to $263,400. They were down in Michigan by 7 percent to $177,600. Both prices were down significantly from 2004. Allen Green, president-elect for the local trade group, said prices sagged last year because more properties on the market as houses waited longer for buyers."

The Cincinnati Enquirer. "It was not the bursting of a bubble, but the selling price of existing homes did more poorly in the Tristate last year than all but 18 of the nation's 149 biggest markets. Ohio was a big reason for the drop in the Midwest. Of the 19 worst-performing markets in median home-value changes, seven were in Ohio."

"'It's been a buyers' market,' said Don Freels, CEO of the Ohio Association of Realtors. 'They're submitting lower bids and, in some cases, they're getting them. It tends to drive prices down.'"

"Real estate professionals in the region say that record home sales in 2005 and peaking resale prices made it difficult for the industry to shine in 2006. 'You're coming off a record year when interest rates were at a 40-year low,' Freels said. 'People were bidding with each other for the same home.'"

"Steve and Jenny French learned firsthand how cold Cincinnati's real estate waters were in 2006. Their two-story, three-bedroom house on trendy Conroy Street in Fairview Heights was on the market most of the year, but they couldn't find anyone willing to pay their $199,000 asking price."

"'We had plenty of window-shoppers and people who said they were serious,' said Steve French, 'but in the end, when I followed up with them, they said they wanted to buy a new house and not have to do anything with it.'"

"Conroy Street has several newer homes that were part of the Over-the-Rhine Tour of Homes in 2004. French's house has a two-car garage, an extra lot and a panoramic view of downtown Cincinnati but still awaits a new owner."

"'Existing homes suffered badly in 2006,' French said. 'We felt the house was fairly priced based on the square footage and number of bedrooms. We even offered a lease-to-own option.'"

The Pioneer Press from Minnesota. "In an unusual about-face, a Prior Lake woman at the center of an ongoing federal investigation into mortgage fraud will bare her soul in an upcoming issue of Minnesota Realtor magazine."

"Jill M. Lehn, who pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering in December, tells all in a four-page article she wrote for the magazine due out March 1. The article details her misdeeds while working as a closing agent at First Advantage Title Co.'s Burnsville office, which has since closed. 'It's a very hard lesson,' Lehn told the Pioneer Press."

"Lehn has admitted to preparing fraudulent documents in more than 60 real estate transactions between December 2004 and August 2006 where home values had been inflated. Lehn said she had nothing to do with inflating the home values, but was responsible for dispersing some $3 million in extra money concealed from lenders, by cutting checks to buyers and sellers."

"According to her plea agreement, the buyers knew in each case that they were signing fraudulent documents she had prepared, in order to get the pay out."

""Lehn said she clearly recalls the first instance, about three years ago. A particular loan officer requested a favor, she said, to get a homebuyer extra cash back to improve the property. 'It's something I did as a favor to people that has come back to bite me in ways I never imagined,' Lehn said. 'I foolishly said yes once and opened up that pathway.'"

"One of Lehn's clients, Isadore Stewart, a real estate investor who lives in Bloomington, has also pleaded guilty in the scheme. Stewart pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in relation to three properties he purchased at inflated prices last year, including one house in St. Paul's Frogtown neighborhood."

"Phillip Resnick, the Minneapolis attorney representing Stewart, described described the ongoing probe as wide and 'pretty extensive.' '[Lehn's] got dozens, if not hundreds more than just him,' Resnick said. 'My sense is that it goes beyond just her. That there are people that are higher up than she is.'"