The Cantonrep reports from Ohio. "Nancy Niarchos and her husband bought (a) Jackson Township condo for $137,900 in 2003. They had it painted. They put on a new roof, and they installed a new kitchen counter and a backsplash. Then they realized the condo was too small. So the Niarchos bought a larger house in Jackson and put the condo on the market in November."

"Recognizing a slow market, they asked for $139,000, just 0.8 percent more than they paid for it four years ago. Five months later, no offers. 'I just think the market is really bad right now,' said Nancy Niarchos, who now has two mortgages. 'We've already moved. We just really want to sell it and move on.'"

"'Buyers have such a large inventory to choose from,' said Linda Wise, a local ReMax real estate agent. 'It's like a candy store.'"

"Real estate professionals say subprime borrowers are running out of time. Many got adjustable-rate mortgages. The catch: If interest rates went up, payments would significantly increase."

"That wasn't a big worry at a time when people were betting housing prices would always rise. Many lenders didn't even bother to ask prospective borrowers for documentation of income. Nor did they require a down payment."

"'You could tell (them) you make whatever amount of money, and they would just take your word for it,' said Jim Fox, the manager (of) Realty One's offices in Stark and Carroll counties. 'It was lax, and we're paying the price.'"

"Many would-be sellers, some of whom took out big second-mortgages to fund home improvements, are in denial that their homes have not appreciated, Fox said. When real estate agents suggest a selling price, many sellers 'look at us and tell us, 'My gosh, that's a terrible number,' he said."

"Realty One President Barbara Reynolds added, 'There's a feeling literally that a house should appreciate every year. It doesn't always. It depends on supply and demand.'"

"As unrealistic, said Fox, are some would-be buyers; they expect sellers to practically give their homes away. 'Some people, ... they want us to help them steal a home,' Fox said."

The MD Times from Indiana. "Indianapolis in the first two quarters of 2006 had the highest metro foreclosure rate in the United States, according to Realtytrac. "

'"Certain people were getting loans then that they can't get now,' said Wayne Ready of FC Tucker-Wayne Ready & Associates. 'Indiana is in the top five or six in repossessed homes.'"

"The Midwest's industrial-based workforce is linked to bad credit and mortgage defaults, he said. Midwestern states are among the worst-hit areas in the nation when the housing market has a slump."

"Investors will buy properties at bargain prices from the banks before the market is on the rebound, he said, so foreclosed properties don't lead to any slowdown overall. 'What's mostly selling now is those (foreclosures) and high-end homes right now,' he said."

The Ann Arbor News from Michigan. "Washtenaw County homeowners are facing foreclosures in record numbers, the result of a weak economy, a glutted housing market, and adjustable rate mortgages that have bit homeowners hard as interest rates jumped."

"'I used to do five or six foreclosures a week. Now I do 19 to 30,' said Special Deputy Jimmy Moore, who auctions off mortgage foreclosures every week at the Washtenaw County Courthouse."

"The Washtenaw County Clerk's office recorded 99 deed sales of foreclosed properties in February, more than any other month in more than two years. The combined total for the first two months of 2007 increased by 117 percent from the same time in 2006."

"Livington County has also seen a huge leap in foreclosures since 2000 when there were a total of 85. That number jumped to 280 in 2005; to 614 in 2006 (a 120 percent increase); and in the first quarter of this year, there were 243 foreclosures, county Register of Deeds Sally Reynolds said."

"In Washtenaw County, most of the foreclosures used to come from Ypsilanti and Superior townships, Moore said. Now, Ann Arbor's being hit just as hard, along with Chelsea, Manchester and other outlying areas. 'That's where all the new homes were built,' he said."

"'Some people who really didn't qualify for a loan in the first place, but a smart salesman sold them something they couldn't afford,' he said. 'They don't have any equity built in their homes and attorneys are telling people, 'Call your mortgage company. Say the key's inside. And walk away.'"

The Cadillac News from Michigan. "Most sellers...may be forced to accept less for their properties than they ever anticipated. 'It’s not in someone’s best interest to sell unless they have to,' said Shirley Schafer, broker (in) Cadillac. 'But it’s a great time to buy.'"

"'We probably have a three-year supply on the market of homes priced over $100,000,' Schafer said."

"The uncertainty of the future causes agent Sheila Richardson concern. 'In another five years, we could be worse off,' she said. 'We all might be selling our homes for 50 cents on the dollar.'"

The Pantagraph from Illinois. "It’s a scary time for hundreds of thousands of American homeowners, some of whom live in your own back yard. The number of new foreclosure cases filed in McLean County during the first three months of the year has risen about 15 percent from the same time period last year."

"Attorney Chuck Erickson in Bloomington represents banks in foreclosure cases and acts as an agent for the Intercounty Judicial Sales Corporation out of Chicago when it schedules an auction in town."

"'I’ve done more foreclosures in the last year than I probably have in the last several,' Erickson said."

The Star Tribune from Minnesota. "Spring is the time of year when Twin Cities-area home builders itch to put holes in the ground that will become someone's American Dream. But consumers aren't feeling so springy leading into the housing market's prime selling season."

"'And lo and behold, the subprime market comes forward and just causes another issue that descends on the housing market and raises questions that we don't need,' said Michael Noonan, division president with Toll Brothers Inc. 'I'd love a period without news about housing.'"

"'It has sent a shudder through the housing and mortgage industries,' said Noonan, who is also president of the Builders Association of the Twin Cities."

"According to the FDIC, the amount of noncurrent real estate construction and development loans increased by $1 billion, or 15.5 percent, during the fourth quarter of 2006. That increase represented nearly a quarter of the $4.2 billion increase in all noncurrent loans and leases during that period."

"'When you have something that shakes the confidence of the finance markets, that's a concern for us,' Noonan said. 'If access to financing or capital becomes more and more difficult, we'll have a greater challenge selling homes.'"

"Amy Crews Cutts, deputy chief economist for mortgage funder Freddie Mac, said that although this slowdown and all the mortgage drama that has surrounded it has been painful, it was inevitable and necessary to bring the market into balance and to prevent excess price inflation or the kind of overbuilding that happened in the early 1980s."

"She believes the market has hit bottom in terms of the number of transactions, though not necessarily in terms of prices."

"'That said, I don't think the upward slope will be very strong,' she said. 'It's a bad thing if you are a homebuilder or investor in homebuilding, but it's a fabulous thing if you care about the health of the overall housing market.'"