The Chicago Tribune reports from Illinois. "Though local observers say the slumbering Chicago housing market has started to stir, it snored right through January, when sales slid by nearly 11 percent from a year before, according to data released Tuesday by the Illinois Association of Realtors. It was the 10th consecutive month that sales declined in Chicago."

"William Dahms, a North Side mortgage banker, has been trying to sell his condo in the Ravenswood Manor neighborhood since July and has dropped the price to $225,000 from $235,000. Dahms says he is firm on the current price, but acknowledges that buyers continue to be picky because they have many properties to choose from."

"'They're a tough crowd,' agrees Glen Ellyn agent Gaylyn Genovesi, who says buyers are turning up their noses at homes that are not pristine. She recently got a firm contract on a house that had been for sale for about a year, during which time it cascaded through several price cuts to settle at $449,000 from $517,000. After that, the owners got three offers."

"In the Chicago area the biggest decline was in Grundy County, where home sales fell more than 15 percent. In DeKalb County, however, sales jumped 33 percent, though median prices slipped by 11 percent, according to the Illinois Realtors."

The Journal Register from Illinois. "No matter how the numbers are added up, the prices people paid for homes in the Springfield market dropped in the final three months of 2006, for only the second time in 11 years."

"The Danville Area Board of Realtors last year stopped providing sales figures to the national group after the community consistently was ranked at the bottom of the nationwide median-price index."

"In addition to unfavorable publicity in national publications such as USA Today, association and city officials in Danville told the local newspaper early this year the rankings were not an accurate reflection of the housing market. 'It’s all how you play with the numbers,' Mayor Scott Eisenhauer said in the Commercial-News of Danville."

The Flint Journal from Michigan. "By discounting prices on new houses by as much as $70,000, a group of area home builders hopes its deals are just too good to pass up despite the current sales slump."

"Thirteen houses from several area builders are featured in the first 'New Home Inventory Clearance Sale' taking place this weekend and next. The event is sponsored by the Builders Association of Metro Flint."

"The sale, featuring discounts as high as 21 percent, is prompted by the area's slowdown of new house sales and builders' desire to reduce inventory."

"'I'm not going to stand here and lie and say, 'The housing industry is strong.' It's not. It's weak,' said Barry Simon, president of the Builders Association of Metro Flint. 'But that's to buyers' advantage right now. There are houses out there some people couldn't have bought two years ago that they can right now.'"

"Earlier this month, The Flint Journal reported that new housing starts in Genesee County collapsed in 2006, sinking to the lowest level in 14 years. Also, the average selling price dropped 16 percent compared to the previous year."

"But the decline in house sales isn't just in Genesee County and southeast Michigan. The sale comes just as a new U.S. Commerce Department report showed new house sales nationally fell last month by the biggest percentage in 13 years."

"Lexington Properties has a home in Davison Township for sale for $239,900, down from $270,500. The company also has four others available at discounted prices, said Ted Macksey, managing partner for Lexington and president of the builders association."

"'This isn't like a furniture store that has a sale every week or every month,' Macksey said. 'This is a true blue, incredible deal.'"

"And even the prices listed aren't necessarily the lowest prices, Macksey said. 'Builders are willing to make concessions, but we're not foolish, and there is a point where we can't go any further,' Macksey said. 'But we are encouraging buyers to make offers.'"

The Winona Daily News from Minnesota. "Last year, Winona County had 42 home foreclosures. The county is on track to have that many by spring this year. There have been 10 already this year with another 20 pending, putting the county on pace for a record increase, said County Recorder Bob Bambenek."

"The county is poised to see 'drastic changes,' Bambenek told the county Board of Commissioners in a real estate market update Tuesday night."

"The trend, largely a result of too much credit, isn’t unique to the area, or even the state, which saw a 46 percent increase in foreclosures between 2005 and 2006 and recorded 738 new ones in January, according to RealtyTrac."

"In Fillmore County, foreclosures jumped 33 percent over that same period. In Houston County, they doubled. 'It’s really scary,' said Houston County Recorder Beverly Bauer. 'A lot of people in the last few years have extended themselves very deeply.'"

"Bambenek said that of the foreclosures his office has handled this year, both completed and pending, several are associated with Internet lending companies. Some of those companies, which often deal in giving subprime loans to people with poor credit, have high interest rates and use overly complicated formulas to mask fees and other charges."

"Bauer also said she’s seen an increase in recent years of mortgages from outside lenders, which she said she’s 'leery about.' 'People have done online mortgages and all of a sudden had problems,' she said. 'They try to contact those people, huge corporations, and don’t get to talk to a real person. They come here and say, 'What can we do?' There isn’t much we can do besides giving them a copy of their foreclosure.'"

"Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson has suggested a series of bills to reform lending practices, some of which will be introduced in the Legislature in the coming weeks. Her agenda includes criminal penalties for those who consciously provide 'grossly unsuitable' loans, banning prepayment penalties, and requiring lenders to verify that borrowers can repay a loan."