The Home News Tribune reports from New Jersey. "There were 10,075 foreclosures in Central New Jersey last year, according to the JEC report. This means 1 in 87 homes, faced or are in the early stages of foreclosure, said JEC spokesman Israel Klein. 'I don't know what happened but this month, the number of calls...have really picked up,' said Claire Lawrence, director of a housing counseling agency that serves Middlesex County and Franklin. 'The problems are all over (the county).'"

"Lawrence said she is 'dumbfounded' at the extremely high mortgage payments people who come to her agency are expected to pay. Some, she added, are three to five months behind on those payments. 'The problem is most of these people got into mortgages they can't afford,' she said."

"Joe Petrucelli, an Edison mortgage banker, said risky mortgage loans, such as negative amortization loans, caused his mortgage business to drop by more than 50 percent a few years ago."

"'I wouldn't sell the interest-only loans to people because they ratchet up,' Petrucelli said. 'What happens is, someone would get this comfortable feeling that they are only going to pay $1,500 a month but then it adjusts and ratchets up.'"

The Times Union from New York. "In the Capital Region, housing prices are dropping. The Greater Capital Association of Realtors says the median-sale price for single-family homes fell 7 percent in February from year-earlier levels. And Realtors say the inventory of houses here is growing."

"'People are going to have to come to the realization that prices are going to have to come down to get houses sold,' said Mary Ann Larkin, a real estate agent in Sharon Springs. 'There's a tremendous amount of inventory, and the days of putting a high price on a house to see what buyers will pay are over.'"

"'I'm definitely seeing price hesitation with buyers,' said Latham Realtor Anthony Gucciardo. 'If you don't price it right, it won't sell.'"

"In the Albany-Schenectady-Troy metropolitan area in February, 11.2 percent of homeowners with subprime loans were more than 60 days behind with payments, an increase from 8.5 percent one year ago."

"In Glens Falls, 13.4 percent of such homeowners had fallen behind, the second highest figure in the state. Jamestown had the highest rate, with 14.8 percent of homeowners with subprime loans more than 60 days in arrears."

The New York Post. "A startling 50 percent of homeowners in five of the city's poorest neighborhoods are holding sub-prime mortgage loans, it was reported yesterday."

"NYU's Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy said the percentage of home-purchase loans in the sub-prime category here more than tripled from 6.5 percent in 2002 to 22.9 percent in 2005."

"The NYU study found that in 22 of the city's 59 community board districts, more than 30 percent of all home-purchase loans were sub-prime. By comparison, the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, where the median annual income was $22,238, led the citywide list at 52.28 percent."

"'If [home-value] appreciation flattens out, you're going to see a lot of homeowners going into distress,' warned Furman research fellow Solomon Greene."

"In many cases, sub-prime loans offer low two-year teaser rates that increase dramatically in the third year. They're also tougher to refinance. 'These homeowners could be stuck in very expensive loans,' noted Greene."

"Brownsville had the fifth-highest rate of foreclosure notices in the city, 30.5 per 1,000 occupied one- to four-family homes. Bedford-Stuyvesant had the most, 34.2 per 1,000."

The Boston Herald from Massachusetts. "Hope is springing eternal for the Massachusetts real estate market as this year’s key spring house-hunting season gets under way. And this year, Realtors hope a good spring market will help home prices bottom out after some 19 months of declines."

"But economists are less sanguine. 'I’m thinking we still may see some more price weakness,' said economist John Bitner of Boston-based Eastern Bank."

"Bitner recently forecast that the subprime-mortgage industry’s sudden woes could mean Massachusetts home values won’t bottom out until at least this summer."

"The good news? Pretty much everyone agrees that today’s soft market means great deals await this spring’s crop of house hunters."

"'I think buyers have a very strong hand right now,' said Barry Nystedt, a Newton buyer’s agent. 'It’s all about supply and demand.'"

"Unit 2, 71 Marion St., Somerville. Buyer Agents of Boston’s Gary Dwyer calls this $399,000 three-bedroom unit, located in a three-family near Inman Square, a 'nice option for first-time buyers or growing families.' He added that someone willing to close a deal quickly could probably 'negotiate a nice price reduction.'"

"Nystedt likes this four-bedroom Nonantum home, which currently lists for $499,900. 'Many folks would not believe you could get that much house in Newton anywhere (for the price sought),' he said."

"Atwood Ave., Newton. Nystedt considers this $799,000 four-bedroom a good deal because the owner has cut the asking price by $100,000. The Newtonville home has also been up for sale on and off for some five months, 'indicating seller motivation,' he said."