The Star Telegram reports from Texas. "Buying a home? Even in some of Tarrant County's most-popular neighborhoods, the ball is in your court these days. After years of steady increases, sales of existing homes in North Texas decreased in the first quarter this year. The same trend is happening in these neighborhoods."

"Woodland West, (a) middle-class Arlington neighborhood of more than 600 homes follows the overall North Texas trend of a rise in sales, then a drop in 2007. Sellers had similar asking prices in the first quarters of 2005 and 2007. But the selling price was a different story. The average homeowner dropped the price $4,000 to make the sale this year. Two years ago, the average seller cut $2,315 off the price."

"'There aren't too many [houses] that go for full price,' agent Penny Bradshaw said of the North Texas market."

"Park Glen, near one of the Metroplex's most-active home-building areas, has faced stiff competition from builders, homes resold after foreclosure, and homes sold to avoid foreclosure, said agent Jo Ann Anderson."

"Fort Worth: Fairmount. There has been heavier discounting in the first quarter of 2007, the most significant on Lipscomb Street with a $20,500 discount on a $70,000 listing and a $19,500 discount on a $140,000 Adams Street listing."

"During the same quarter of 2006, it was more likely the exact opposite happened. A $245,000 listing on Adams Street fetched $18,130 more than the asking price after just more than three months on the market, and a $119,000 listing on Sixth Avenue sold for $135,000 in five days."

"In the first quarter of 2005, six of 11 homes were discounted off their asking price and none sold for more."

"It's rare for a home to be so popular that sellers are bidding the price up, real estate agents said. It is not unusual these days for buyers to ask sellers to pay their closing costs as a condition of the sale, said Steve Young, chairman-elect of the Arlington Board of Realtors."

"A Star-Telegram examination of sales data from several popular Tarrant County neighborhoods shows that a large percentage of homes sell with some kind of seller concession. In more than half or more of the closed listings in most of the areas, the buyer bought the house for less than the list price, the MLS data show."

"Area real estate agents say buyers have a lot to choose from as the peak home-selling season approaches. For sellers to catch the eye of summer buyers, local real estate agents offer the following tips: Don't get too aggressive with your price. Not only are homeowners competing against their neighbors for buyers, home builders are trying to unload their inventory."

"Many neighborhoods also have foreclosures that are back on the market, which are priced for the lender to unload quickly."

The El Paso Times. "El Paso's hot real estate market has cooled a bit in the past couple of months, in part due to tighter mortgage financing requirements caused by the growing number of foreclosures nationwide, some in El Paso's real estate industry reported."

"'The inventory (of homes on the market) is increasing significantly across the city,' said Charles DeWetter, president of one of El Paso's largest real estate firms. 'The pace of the last two or three years, you list a home and sell it in a few days, those days are gone.'"

"The number of out-of-town investors coming into the market to buy homes has also slowed, DeWetter and others said."

"Realtor Elizabeth Leal, said, 'Last year, I closed on over $10 million (in home sales). It was just crazy. This year, I've got houses, but not enough buyers.' Leal said she's seen prices dropping this year on home listings as the number of homes on the market increases."

"'All the underwriting rules have changed. It's harder to get a 100 percent loan now,' said Elena Mata, president of an El Paso mortgage brokerage firm."

"Last week, 3,264 homes were listed for sale on the El Paso Multiple Listing Service, which includes most existing homes on the El Paso market, and some new homes. DeWetter said probably half that number of homes were on the market a year ago."

"Yvonne and Owen Corkran expected to have their home sold by now. Instead, they've had to drop the price of their four-bedroom, 2,350-square-foot East Side home from $212,000 when they put it on the market in August to $179,900 today. They plan to move to a newly constructed home in May."

"'I think if we had done it (put house on the market) sooner, I think it would have gone,' Yvonne Corkran said. 'Now, there's more to choose from. 'Two new homes just popped up for sale' near their house, and many new homes are being built on the far East Side, she said. 'It's been kind of a nightmare.'"

"'We buried (a statue of) St. Joseph in the backyard, and blessed the house with holy water,' she said. 'We've done everything we could think of.'"