The East Valley Tribune reports from Arizona. "When Shannon and Chad Edgerton jumped into the housing boom frenzy, they didn’t want to miss out on the giant equity gains homeowners were celebrating. But the couple plunged in a little too late when they bought a roughly 1,280-squarefoot home in the Queen Creek area in 2005. Since then, home sales and prices have tumbled throughout Pinal County."

"The median price in Pinal County also slid, dropping from $220,000 in the fourth quarter 2005 to $191,500 in the same period last year. 'Our timing wasn’t quite right,' Shannon Edgerton said."

"Edgerton’s three-bedroom home is one of thousands that have risen from the dusty Queen Creek landscape in recent years. And the building hasn’t stopped, even as builders are trying to unload existing inventory."

"They’ve tried to entice buyers with pools, cars, appliances, landscaping and tens of thousands of dollars in incentives. 'They keep offering all of these things that we can’t compete with,' Edgerton said."

"With so many new residents in peripheral areas, traffic on the two lane roads has become increasingly congested for commuters driving to work. During the boom, that drive was worth it for many, said Jay Butler, director of ASU’s Realty Studies program. 'When you had that big run up in prices, nobody cared where they lived,' Butler said. 'They were going to be instantaneous millionaires.'"

"Nathan King was transferred to Wichita, Kan. just months after his family moved into their Queen Creek home. They tried to rent the place out but couldn’t find any takers. King then listed the home in August and, like many sellers in the area, has dropped his asking price several times. Meanwhile, he bought a second home in Kansas."

"'It’s been pretty frustrating,' he said. 'It’s never fun to have two house payments and not be able to find renters. I just feel they built too many homes too fast.'"

The Review Journal from Nevada. "The number of homes listed for sale in Las Vegas Valley climbed to 18,774 in January, a 13.8 percent increase from the same month a year ago, the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors reported."

"Statistics from the Realtors association show that single-family median home prices dipped slightly in January to $302,000, down 2.8 percent from a year ago."

"'The (builder) incentives worked. They're out of inventory,' said Dennis Smith of Home Builders Research. 'The investors are looking to buy 20, 30 or 40 homes, but they can't find them now.'"

In Business Las Vegas. "Las Vegas homeowners are cutting prices to sell their homes in this soft real estate market. The median price of homes sold on the MLS dropped 1.3 percent in January to bring the total decline to 4.4 percent since June, when the sales price was an all-time high of $315,000, according to statistics released by the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors."

"The median price of homes sold in January on the service was $302,000 and is poised to fall below $300,000 for the first time in nearly two years. The prices, however, don't account for any incentives many sellers have been offering in recent months."

"'I think we are starting to see people come to the reality of where the market is and adjust their prices," said Ken Perlman, VP of Sullivan Group Real Estate Advisors. 'Those who bought homes in 2004, 2005 or earlier have gotten over the euphoria of appreciations they've had and don't expect to recover every cent of it,' he said."

"'What's happening in Las Vegas is no different than in Phoenix, San Diego or other parts of Southern California,' Perlman said. 'All of the markets had great years and people had a lot of fun, but it wasn't realistic to sustain those price increases.'"

"When it comes to the price of land in the Las Vegas Valley, Derek Rafie said he's telling clients to look beyond the statistics. Rafie, a first vice president of the land services group at CB Richard Ellis in Las Vegas, said media accounts last week portraying the price of land jumping 78 percent in the Las Vegas Valley during the past year has left some explaining to do."

"The clients didn't make a mistake by not jumping in and avoiding paying steeper prices later, Rafie said. Instead, he tells them the raw numbers don't tell the true picture. That number, reported in a Review-Journal news story, can't be taken at its face value because it includes resort property, Rafie said."

"There were only 572 acres sold during the fourth quarter, which is down about 70 percent from the number of acres sold in the fourth quarter of 2005. 'When you lump everything together, especially when you have gaming property, it looks like a large appreciation when it really wasn't,' Rafie said."

"'Right now, I am not sure landowners understand the value of their properties have decreased,' Rafie said. 'There is a softening. If you need to sell your property in the short term, you have to discount your price.'"

"More than 19,000 Las Vegas Valley homes entered foreclosure in 2006, and the filings show no signs of subsiding. Foreclosure filings in Las Vegas peaked during the fourth quarter, when 6,295 homes entered some stage of the process. By the time 2006 ended, one of every 31 households had entered foreclosure."

"Las Vegas had nearly 24,000 homes, town homes and condos on the market at the end of January."

"Based on what he's seeing day to day, Michael Krein, president of Nevada Real Estate Services, which handles foreclosures, said it appears Southern Nevada foreclosures may be several months away from reaching their peak. For many homeowners, the jump in monthly mortgage payments won't take effect until this year, he said."

"'I can't hire staff fast enough and get them trained,' Krein said. 'It looks like they are going to continue to increase at a rapid rate.'"

"Many of the homes he's taken possession of recently were owned by investors who bought with the intent of gaining rapid appreciation and selling, Krein said. Several haven't even been lived in, he said."

"Other investors have rented out their homes for income and weren't making their mortgage payments, Krein said. He said he's evicted several renters who weren't aware their landlord was pocketing the cash rather than paying the mortgage."

"Banks have been reluctant to discount prices given the losses they are already facing, but Krein said they will eventually price the homes realistically, possibly discounted by as much as 5 to 10 percent."

"The rising number of foreclosures has already affected lenders who continue to tighten guidelines for home loans, said Steve Schauer, president of a local mortgage broker. Like others, Schauer said he doesn't believe foreclosure filings have peaked yet."

"Many homeowners have sought to refinance their homes in the last two months but have been unable to do so because their appraisal shows their properties are valued at tens of thousands less than they were bought for at the height of the real estate market, Schauer said."

"Schauer recounted one case in which an investor bought a home at $350,000. Today it's worth $295,000. His mortgage payment is $2,500 a month and he rents it out for $1,400 a month, taking a monthly loss of $1,100."

"'He can't afford to take a $60,000 loss if he sells,' Schauer said. 'So he can continue to rent it out at a loss per month or let it go to foreclosure and ruin his credit.'"