What do you see in your housing market this holiday weekend? A confession? "Realtors had to temper their sunny market optimism this year. Former NAR head economist David Lereah was often heavily criticized for claiming that the housing bubble did not exist and there was no danger in extending loans into the subprime market. But in an interview he conducted before stepping down, Lereah gave a much gloomier assessment of the market."

"'We're in a real estate recession,' Lereah said. 'We're all partly guilty. But the lenders and the speculators, they had the most in it. Making zero down payments with no documentation, that's just irresponsible. But the Realtor, the lender, the title attorney, they all got wrapped up in the frenetic pace of the boom.'"

Construction statistics? "In the first four months of the year, housing starts in the East Bay declined sharply, the California Building Industry Association said Friday. Multifamily housing starts stood at 817, a 40.5 percent decline from the same time a year ago. San Joaquin County had 29 multifamily housing starts, a 78.7 percent decrease from the same time ago, while single-family home starts stood at 935, a 29.5 percent decrease."

Or foreclosures? "Hays County properties scheduled for foreclosure auction are expected to be 35 percent higher this June than a year ago. The increase over June 2006 was the greatest in the nine Central Texas counties the FLS tracks, agency spokeswoman Bonnie Brown said."

"The number of home foreclosures in metro Atlanta has risen 200 percent since 2000, in part because of an increase in the use of high-interest, sub-prime mortgage loans, the Atlanta Regional Commission said this week."

"Despite the number of homes in foreclosure, housing development continues to rise in both Henry and Clayton counties. In 2000 Clayton County had roughly 86,000 housing units, according to Equity Depot, and in 2006 there were nearly 105,000 units."

"Henry County had about 43,000 homes in 2000 and in 2006 there were nearly 68,000."

"When the subject of foreclosure arises, Lincoln Park isn't usually the first neighborhood conjured up. But even that vibrant Chicago community is not safe from the dark cloud in the housing industry."

"In the 2007 results, 11 neighborhoods, including Lincoln Park, where foreclosures have doubled, showed triple-digit percentage increases in the number of foreclosure actions taken against homeowners. They include a 167 percent rise in Mt. Greenwood and a 120 percent boost in Irving Park, says Record Information Services Inc."

"The highest number of foreclosures for the first four months came in West Englewood, up 77 percent to 259."

"'Our phone is ringing off the hook,' said Michael van Zalingen, director of a non-profit that arranges financing and offers counseling."

Building trends? "Are McMansions McOver? If recent trends are any indication, the bigger-is-better approach to residential real estate may already be giving way to a more reasoned level-headedness."

"A historic confluence of factors drove America on a cattle stampede to invest in real estate. Today more and larger forces have now slowed the market to a surly teenager's stroll."

"'I firmly believe that when the housing market slows, you'll see a short-term drop in the demand for large homes. But in the longer run, it's going to be even more challenging to sell these because the average household size of the boomers is going to go down as the last kids leave,' says housing consultant Thomas Lawler."

"Meaning the inventory of McMansions is likely to grow. And grow. And grow. Could we one day see a landscape with large white elephants lingering on the market?"

"'I find it difficult to see how we won't,' Lawler says."