The Chicago Tribune reports from Illinois. "Lumber dealer Rick Baumgarten knew business wouldn't be good this year. But even after a career spent riding the ups and downs of the housing business, he said he was too optimistic. 'I didn't think that the slump was going to be as deep as it was,' said Baumgarten. 'I was plain, flat-out wrong.'"

"The slump is deep. New data shows that existing-home sales in the Chicago area they dropped a wrenching 22.1 percent."

"One economist said the weaker housing market is contributing to public unease. 'There is a relationship,' said Jonathan Noonan, chief investment strategist for an investment management firm in Boston. Noonan said some people who once thought of their home as a source of ready cash, whether through home-equity loans or outright sales, may be becoming less confident."

"'You could tap into your house just like an ATM' when sales and prices were rising, he said. 'What we have now is the unwinding of this.'"

"Jackey Licka, who said that even though she and her husband had a deadline to sell their New Lenox duplex home in order to move into a newly built house in Pennsylvania, they knew they were probably overpricing their unit when they listed it for sale two months ago."

"'We knew we were too high in the beginning, and then we lowered it by $10,000,' she said."

"Even then, the couple got offers that were $25,000 below their asking price, she said. She said they held firm, and in recent days they negotiated a contract to sell the home for about $7,000 below their asking price, which she declined to disclose."

"'We're definitely in a market that is still finding its legs,' said Robert Zoretich, president of the Illinois Realtors. 'Tentative buyers and sellers are still trying to read the market and are taking their time.'"

The Journal Star from Illinois. "Area home sales dipped in the first quarter this year compared with the first three months of 2006, according to the Peoria Area Association of Realtors."

"'While construction of new homes has seen a dramatic slowdown nationally, central Illinois builders are moving ahead, said Shara Manning, association president. 'A lot of people pulled in the reins for six months, but there's a huge influx of new (housing) starts in the area,' said Manning."

"'New subdivisions are opening. Lots are ready to be built on,'" said Manning."

"The inventory of homes on the Peoria market remained around the 2,400 mark, said Manning, noting that sellers need to remain competitive in how they price their property. 'There is an outstanding inventory of affordable homes on the market right now,' she said."

"'Spring is our big time. The second and third quarters will truly reflect what is happening in our market,' she said."

The News Democrat from Illinois. "Home Builders Association of Greater Southwest Illinois Executive Director Jerry Rombach said local market declines are modest. 'We're not seeing the declines as we've seen in other hot housing sectors in Phoenix, Florida, California or Las Vegas,' Rombach said."

"'The message is that a lot of the problems with the present housing market have really been a little exaggerated by the national media, and the word may not be getting out locally that in the Greater St. Louis area, interest rates are still at very favorable levels and product is more available,' Rombach added."

"Greater Gateway Association of Realtors executive director Al Suguitan said lenders are always going to devise ways of helping people get into houses, but there are always going to be some people who probably should not have been granted a loan."

"'I would say that after the fact, when they're doing the post-mortem or the forensic analysis on what went wrong with the subprime market, they will point out that some lenders lent money out and shouldn't have, but lenders have to take risks,' Suguitan said. 'That is why they have to have such strong underwriting standards.'"

"'I think that some of them realize that lending standards were a little lenient during the boom and are tightening them up,' said realtor Heather Horvath in Collinsville. 'But a mortgage is still reasonably easy to get.'"

"'I think our area is OK,' she said. 'I don't think we've seen the recession most areas in the nation have seen. You definitely have more to choose from in this market. There are a lot of nice listings out there right now.'"

The Star Tribune from Minnesota. "Foreclosure sales in Minneapolis climbed more than 100 percent during the first three months of this year compared with the same period last year."

"At the current rate, Minneapolis is on track to far surpass the 1,610 homes foreclosed last year. Nearly 900 of the foreclosures in 2006 were on the North Side, more than the 863 foreclosures the whole city had in 2005."

"'It's a bad situation,' said Elizabeth Ryan, a city planning official. She attributed the spike in foreclosures to the rise of abusive lending practices such as subprime loans."

"Minneapolis City Council President Barbara Johnson, whose Fourth Ward has a high number of foreclosures, said subprime lenders commit 'white-collar crime. 'To have our neighborhoods targeted by these criminals on this scale is overwhelming. They're ruining our neighborhoods,' she said."

"'In some cases, there was a loosening of credit standards and what happens is homeowners end up with products that in the short term looked like a good deal, but in the long run were unsustainable,' she said."

"More than 2,000 homes in Minneapolis and St. Paul went into foreclosure last year, according to sheriff's records. Other areas statewide also are seeing record numbers of foreclosures."

"Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak called the foreclosure rise a 'troubling trend.' Among the 384 foreclosed homes on the North Side, the Jordan neighborhood had the most: 74."

"Jason Little, treasurer of the Jordan Area Community Council, said Monday that prospective homeowners need to do more homework before signing any paperwork."