The Courier Post reports from New Jersey. "Anand Ramanathan was approaching the gas station where he normally fills up when he saw them, people dressed as dollar bills holding signs that said 'Free Gas.' 'It's a great thing, really,' said Ramanathan, who chuckled at his good fortune as gas streamed into his car's tank."

"As hordes of drivers jockeyed for position at the pumps, they also got glossy, full-color advertisements from Beazer Homes, a national home builder that owns 10 residential developments in South Jersey."

"The fact that companies such as Beazer Homes are offering incentives and, in some cases, doing it creatively to grab attention is a reflection on the state's housing market, which cooled considerably in 2006, said Patrick O'Keefe, CEO of the New Jersey Builders Association."

"The gas giveaway, it turns out, was Beazer's kickoff to markdowns of another variety. Starting today and continuing through Sunday, the Atlanta-based company will give people who buy a Beazer home in New Jersey the opportunity to buy an upgrade such as a home theater, gourmet kitchen, finished basement or sun room for $1."

"'In recent months, we've offered greater incentives than in the prior three or four years,' said Paul Schneier, president of Beazer Homes's New Jersey division. 'This is our best incentive yet.' Beazer Homes saw new home orders fall nationally by 58 percent from 2005."

"'Two homes on my block have been up for sale for a while. In the past few years, they would have been sold by now,' said Bobbi Ferrick of Collingswood."

"Dave Butts, for one, hopes the region's housing market rebounds, and soon. 'I'd like to see it pick back up so I can sell my house and move out of the state,' said Butts, who lives in Pine Hill. 'I'm tired of the property taxes and high insurance costs here.'"

The Daily Times from Maryland. "James Shaw promised the sun and the moon and delivered. What he didn't do was sell more than a few condominium units on the Crisfield waterfront before a sluggish national housing market hit bottom."

"The fallout that followed landed the developer among civil cases in Harford County Circuit Court, where the Royal Bank America of Philadelphia in late January filed a confessed judgment against Shaw seeking $10.2 million to cover a construction loan and fees for the 23-unit Captain's Galley condominium overlooking the Tangier Sound."

"'Everybody is offering incentives now; I did some of that, in Ocean City, units got $40,000 worth of furniture,' said Thomas Monahan, a developer with projects in Crisfield, Salisbury and Ocean City. 'But the market is coming around and I'm going to stop that. Market correction is over; prices likely are going up in the spring.'"

"At Captain Galley, units range between $400,000 and $1.2 million, and despite six sales since the development opened in August 2006, Shaw expects about a half-dozen contracts to close in the coming weeks. The money would generate revenue to push down the $10.2 million bank debt, he said."

"A sluggish housing market last year stalled the fourth and final phase of the Harbour Light condominium complex in Crisfield, said Monahan. 'Everybody got scared, paranoid,' Monahan said. 'Prices were rising so fast in 2004, 2005 and 2006.'"

The Gazette in Maryland. "Days before the first residents move into Rockville’s Town Square development, the project developer has taken more than a third of the development’s housing units off of the slumping condominium market, shifting them to rental apartments."

"Having endured a year-long market slowdown, RD Rockville LLC has sold just 214 out of 644 units in Town Square, company officials confirmed last week."

"'When the condominium market was hot, everyone was saying this would sell out quickly,' said Benjamin Harris Stonestreet, VP of construction for RD Rockville. 'But there’s 644 condo units on this project. That’s a monumental undertaking.'"

"Until about a year ago, sales were clicking along, Stonestreet said. Throughout the summer of 2005, customers were buying condominiums at a brisk pace, basing their decisions on brochures they were picking up in a nearby sales trailer. Then winter hit and sales dropped. Company officials began banking on the post-holiday turnaround. Spring came and went and no such market shift occurred."

"Now RD Rockville, like other condominium developers in the region, is offering incentives. Company officials confirmed that their sales representatives have given away free parking spaces that would have sold for $30,000 in a better market."

"The condominium prices have not been lowered, company officials say. No rental prices had been set for the 200-plus rental units as of late last week. 'All the analysts and experts say we should be leasing 15 to 20 units a week,' Stonestreet said, before pausing to reflect. 'I hope the experts are correct.'"

"The Town Square development is not the only construction project to suffer from the slumping market. In Montgomery County, condominium sales have declined from 2,050 in 2005 to 1,031 last year, according to William Rich, an expert in condominium markets."

"'In this case, I believe the developer is going to have to take a longer-term play than anticipated,' Rich said. 'He will have to possibly hold on to these units a couple years and then see if the conditions change.'"

"Last year, more than 13,000 condominium units throughout the Washington, D.C., metro area were taken off the market, according to Delta Associates numbers."

"City and company officials downplay the import of the decision to rent hundreds of Town Square units. Markets fluctuate, they say, but the 12.5-acre, $352 million mixed-use development is too loaded with amenities to suffer the same fate of the last major redevelopment project in Town Center, the old Rockville Mall."

"Referred to as the white elephant, the large federal urban-renewal project failed from the start, with its empty cornerstone buildings that stood glaringly vacant. Mayor Larry Giammo has repeatedly said the project failed because it did not account for market demands and how people lived."

"Giammo and the City Council have bet heavily that Town Square will be different, roughly doubling the city’s bonding debt to pay for their end of the project. RD Rockville’s original plan called for only rental units, city officials say. At the request of the city, and encouraged by a rising market, the company eventually shifted the plan to 100 percent ownership."

"'We’re creating a downtown, a heart of a city where there used to be a blacktop parking lot,' said Scott Ross, managing partner of RD Rockville."

"Giammo downplayed RD Rockville’s shift to rental, saying it would not adversely impact the city. 'I don’t see that as a setback,' he said. 'Right now the ownership market is in the tank, but the retail is still strong.'"