The Post & Courier reports from South Carolina. "Contractors for D.R. Horton were clearing the thick wooded tract behind Carol MacLean's home to make way for a 127-home subdivision. Though Horton's corporate headquarters hadn't yet purchased the land, local officials wanted to get a head start on the project. As it turned out, the home office never gave the deal final approval, said Steve Dufour, president of Aiken-based Dufour and Associates Realty."

"'They dropped their earnest money and ran,' said Dufour."

"The 68-acre Summerville tract the company was eyeing, now on the market for $6.3 million, underscores how the slowing housing market in Charleston and most other parts of the country has affected even deep-pocketed home builders."

"At the local level, representatives of the big builders said they have had to adjust to the times. The growing inventory of homes on the market has made it more difficult for sellers, triggering a rise in sale cancellations and a smaller pool of prospective buyers, said Frank Finlaw, Beazer's Charleston division president."

"'It's not, 'If you build it, they will come' anymore,' Finlaw said."

The Tennessean. "Mary Jennings is struggling to keep her house out of foreclosure, but the arithmetic is working against her."

"The retired kitchen supervisor refinanced her Nashville home in November and has already missed two mortgage payments totaling $4,739. She is likely to miss more. Her monthly income is just $2,780, not nearly enough she says to pay the mortgage and other bills."

"In the first three months of this year alone, there were 312 Davidson County foreclosures, as borrowers defaulted on $67.5 million in mortgages. This amount is 70 percent higher than in the same period last year, although the figure is skewed by an unusually high number of multi-unit residential defaults. The problem is hardly unique to Davidson County."

"The Tennessean found more than a third of Nashville's foreclosures since 2005 have been on properties valued above $100,000, some on loans to people with both good incomes and good credit."

"'I don't know what to do," Jennings said. '"I didn't go asking for this loan. The company wrote me and said they could refinance your home and put some money in your hand.'"

"The mortgage companies and their loan officers charged Jennings more than $24,591 in upfront fees. If Jennings is able to keep her home, things could get worse. Her monthly payment of $2,369 is scheduled to jump to $3,003 in less than two years."

The Courier Journal from Kentucky. "Homes going up in metro Louisville this spring are expected to cost, on average, about 5 percent less to build than last year, according to estimates included with their building permits."

"The lower builders' cost suggests buyers may have become more price-sensitive as 30-year mortgage rates have risen back above 6 percent and foreclosure rates have spiked. As builders hammer their way out of the current housing slump, less-elaborate homes are leading the way."

"At the same time, builders who put up more expensive, showplace homes last year, even as the Louisville market softened, are sitting on unsold houses."

"'A lot of those builders are reluctant to go ahead and build another house in that price range until they exhaust some of the inventory they already have,' said Rocky Pusateri, VP of Louisville-based Elite Homes."

The Indystar from Indiana. "The seven-unit luxury development at 1557 N. College Ave. is one of many such projects vying for buyers' attention in a market awash with more than 1,000 newly built or soon-to-be-built condo units."

"'There is so much on the Downtown market right now,' said agent Larry Gregerson, who is marketing the College Avenue Condos. 'There aren't enough buyers to support it.'"

"The ample supply, some would say it's more like a growing glut, of Downtown condos figures to bring lowered list prices and offers of free amenities for buyers as the spring selling season arrives."

"Gregerson, the fourth agent to try to sell out the College Avenue project, is advertising a 10 percent price cut for the units, which range from $245,000 to $317,000. One has been sold."

"Indianapolis Downtown Inc. says 1,743 housing units, mostly condos, are slated to open in the next three years. F.C. Tucker Co.'s Web site for Downtown condos lists 29 projects with available units."

"'There's definitely a lot more supply than demand,' said developer Shawn Cannon. 'You've got an oversaturated market. That's very concerning' for developers."

The Ann Arbor from Michigan. "About 90 new condos came on the market downtown in 2006 when Liberty Lofts and Loft 322 opened and another 250 are planned for Ashley Terrace, The Gallery and Kingsley Lane."

"But amid a sluggish housing market, sales have reportedly been slower than expected, prompting one condo development, Citi Centre Lofts, to change into apartments. Another tower planned to hold 90 condos in the William Street Station project is now being considered for a hotel."

"The average sale price is down $7,400 to $191,712, while the median price fell nearly $24,000 to $161,250."

"'Having an imagination is very difficult for people. Making a commitment for a year from now is tough,' said developer Peter Allen of Kingsley Lane."

The Detroit News. "Southeast Michigan's housing market continued to crumble in 2006, as new homebuilding permits hit a 23-year low, and experts say it will get worse."

"Jim Rogers, a Southeast Michigan Council of Governments manager, said the housing slide could potentially last through 2009 as the region continues to lose jobs. 'We have not yet seen a bottoming out of this,' he said."

"Rather than buy a new home, Claude Rochaix bought an existing five-bedroom colonial in Beverly Hills last month for $10,000 below the appraised value. The auto parts sales manager said he paid $395,000, while similar homes sold a year ago for $450,000."

The Grand Haven Tribune from Michigan. "The number of mortgage foreclosures processed by the county in 2006 is more than double the number foreclosed three years ago, and more than 12 times the number of foreclosure filings in the county 10 years ago. And 2007 is shaping up to top last year's record."

"'This morning, we had a record number of foreclosures (for one week) in Ottawa County,' said Steven Cotton, a county Sheriff's Department civil deputy who serves the foreclosure notices across the county. 'We had 26 sales. Part of that was (an unsold) condo development in Ferrysburg.'"

"Ottawa County Register of Deeds Gary Scholten said it used to be generally middle-income families that had their mortgages foreclosed, mainly because it used to be hard for lower-income people even to get a home loan. Not anymore."

"Scholten said part of the problem is that commission-driven lenders push through loans that often would not have been approved in the past. 'It gets real tough for them,' Cotton said. 'The vast majority of the foreclosures that we see have more money owed on them than the property is worth.'"

The Record Eagle. "Sluggish property value growth and soaring home foreclosure rates paint a grim picture along the Interstate 75 corridor in northern Michigan."

"'The last two years have been slow. I would imagine the economy has something to do with that. This year we've had quite a few houses on the market and not much selling,' said Bill Kerr, equalization director in Otsego County."

"Builder Dale Ringlein has a house for sale in the Lakes of the North resort community that straddles Otsego and Antrim counties. His property has not sold, despite nearly three years on the market and a reduced price."

"The ranch-style house with three bedrooms and two bathrooms is now listed at $99,000, down $10,000 from the initial price. 'I doubt if I could get $89,900 for it, so I may lose money,' Ringlein said."

"He said a surplus of houses on the market combined with a poor economy means that far fewer properties change hands. 'I never dreamed that it would take two or three years to sell that property,' Ringlein said."