The Boston Globe reports from Massachusetts. "In recent years, a new breed of mortgage company, the subprime lender, exploded onto the scene. The subprime market, which grew from nothing to a $600 billion-a-year business in 2006, brought the American Dream to a larger slice of the population than ever before."

"But the price, for many, was too high. More than half of the record 20,000 Massachusetts homeowners who received foreclosure notices from lenders last year had subprime loans."

"Ivan and Christine Estrada could not afford the mint-green saltbox they bought in Winthrop for $315,000. Two loans from Atlanta-based SouthStar Funding LLC, whose operations in Massachusetts were halted by state regulators yesterday, financed the home's full price."

"Within months of buying, the couple's $2,918 monthly payments depleted their small cushion of savings. On the loan application, his income was listed as $6,500 a month, but pay stubs from his full-time job at a rental-car company show he earned about $2,200 a month there last year, excluding overtime."

"The Estradas said they learned about the inaccuracy only when a friend, Boston lawyer Maria Banciforte , reviewed their original loan documents after the Estradas were rejected by at least three major lenders for refinancing they sought to reduce the payments. 'Why didn't I catch that?' Christine Estrada said."

"Prime Mortgage Financial Inc. in Southborough, which served as the broker for the Estrada loan, said it has a signed application from the borrower. Prime's loan salesman, Scott McLaughlin, said he tried to talk the couple out of the loan. 'I told them at the time that I thought it was going to be unaffordable, but she also said she was going to be back to work soon,' he said."

"Christine and Ivan Estrada disputed McLaughlin's version of events. McLaughlin 'said we would be able to refinance in six months' if they paid the loan on time and 'made us feel so secure that it would happen,' Christine Estrada said. That strategy could have worked, if home prices had kept going up."

"The couple missed their February and March payments. If they are unable to save their home, they and their three children will rent again. They will also have to contend with the fallout from foreclosure. 'Now our credit's ruined,' Christine Estrada said."

"Even selling the home might not solve their financial problems; the real estate website Zillow.com estimates the value of their property at $302,000, which is not enough to pay off their loans."

"When Angela Mitchell refinanced her subprime loans with a new subprime loan, the single mother's fate was sealed. Nearly two weeks ago, a judge gave her until May 1 to vacate her Dorchester condominium, which was seized in foreclosure."

"Mitchell obtained two loans from New Century's broker in February 2005. The combined payments started at $1,705 but would have risen this month to $1,902 if the primary loan's 'teaser' interest rate, 5.9 percent, surged to 7.4 percent, her loan said."

"A year ago, feeling burned by her first loan salesman, she found a new broker through a friend and refinanced into a single mortgage, borrowing an additional $28,000 to help pay other debts. Her friend, Mitchell said, 'thought he was helping me out.'"

"Mitchell's new loan increased her payments $700 a month to $2,401. It carried an initial rate of 9.4 percent, with a maximum rate of 14.4 percent over the mortgage's life, according to documents."

"Mitchell used more than half of the $28,000 in cash she received from the refinancing to pay other debts. She reasoned that by paying other bills, 'I would have more money to pay for my mortgage,' she said. In hindsight, Mitchell said, 'It was a dumb move.'"

The Providence Journal from Rhode Island. "Rhode Island’s housing prices declined in February, with condos falling farthest, according to a report released yesterday by The Warren Group in Boston."

"The statewide median price of a condo in February was down nearly 15 percent, to $219,500, compared with $258,000 a year earlier. Condo sales since January have fallen nearly 9 percent during the same period."

"In February, the statewide median price of a single-family house fell about 4 percent, to $249,250, compared with $260,000 during the same month last year."

"Bristol, Newport and Washington Counties all reported single-family house sales rose by double-digits in February, but the median prices in all three counties declined. The most dramatic decline was in Bristol, where the median price of a single-family house in February fell 31 percent, to $255,500, compared with $370,250 a year earlier, according to the report."

From Conntact in Connecticut. "Real estate is an industry with an ever-evolving vocabulary. The buzzwords 'frenzy,' 'flurry' and 'active' have recently been eclipsed by 'normalized,' 'changing' and 'lull.'"

"According to Realtors in North Haven, the total number of homes sold in 2006 dropped 11 percent from the year before, to 6,565."

"'That bump with subprime rates [a nationwide shakeout among subprime mortgage lenders] was unfortunate,' (said) Paul Gradwell, president of the Greater New Haven Association of Realtors. 'It did fuel the economy [before the collapse], but we've warned a lot of our agents that they might want to encourage people who have loans in some of these defunct companies to seek out other financing options.'"

"'That frenzy of years ago when activity basically doubled [annually] is over,' says Michael Marsden, a Realtor in Guilford. 'In 2001 through 2003, people were asking lofty prices and getting them. Now we look at the market to be more of a normal pace. People are not putting in multiple bids on houses, they can take their time. There is some wait-and-see going on.'"

"Statewide, there were 8,073 new housing permits awarded in 2006 and 466 in January of this year."

"'If you price your house based on what you really want and not try for a fistful of stars, you'll get activity, you'll get close to your asking price,' he says. 'There's too much inventory for sellers to wait for someone to meet their high asking price. In Madison and Guilford, the inventory has grown by 50 percent each year.'"

"All agree that Connecticut has become more of a buyer's market over the past 18 to 24 months."

"'It's all about value,' says Sue Clifford, a Realtor in Madison. '[Unlike] the good old days where we were bidding and grabbing houses, today houses sell for close to asking price when they're priced appropriately.'"

"'There is no longer that impulse of 'I have to buy it right now at asking price before it slips through my fingers,' explains Clifford. 'There is a bit of caution with buyers now.'"