A report from Arizona State University. "The local resale home market may seem to be functioning at levels below desired activity, but it is following a very traditional pattern. April recordings at 4,855 sales are well below the 5,980 sales of April 2006 and 8,735 sales of April 2005."

"'The new home has become a strong competitive and attractive alternative to the resale home in many areas of the market as new home builders have been aggressively pursuing buyers through incentives. The general expectation is that the 2007 resale housing market should be a good year, but no where near the records,' said Jay Q. Butler, of Arizona State University. 'This tends to assume that there are no negative geopolitical events and that the subprime problem is contained.'"

The Arizona Republic. "It appears the market is following a traditional cycle, although 'we may not like it,' said Butler."

"Ahwatukee is the one community in the Southeast Valley where sales rose from April 2006 to April 2007. However, prices dropped about 15 percent to $325,000."

"But the situation is not a disaster, Butler said. 'It's not a disaster market; it's not a horrible market; it's a fairly normal market.' In fact, he added, for some it's a good time to look for a deal."

"'You might find a much better deal than you would in the resale market,' Butler said. 'Especially if the home has been sitting there for a while, they may be more willing to deal.'"

"New-home builders enticing buyers with incentives like free pools and discounted upgrades appeared to be one reason for the sluggish existing-home sales in April."

"As housing inventories remain at a record levels in metropolitan Phoenix, 'new-home builders (continue to add) inventory into a market, and the last thing the market needs is inventory,' said real estate agent David Lorti."

From Business Week. "The downturn in the housing market has caught the nation's homebuilders by surprise, leaving many overextended with costly land they can't develop and unfinished homes they can't sell."

"'I think we're going to see a lot more [bankruptcy] filings in the next 6 to 12 months,' says Tucson attorney Eric Slocum Sparks, who is representing one local builder, AmericaBuilt Construction, in Chapter 11. 'I've got a couple of clients who want to see me next week, and I know these aren't social visits.'"

The Denver Post from Colorado. "Foreclosures continued to batter the Front Range housing market in the first quarter, dashing hopes that stronger job growth would hold back rising delinquencies, according to a report Wednesday from the Colorado Division of Housing."

"Public trustees in 51 of the state's 64 counties reported starting 9,254 foreclosures in the first quarter. If that pace continues, Colorado will record more than 37,000 foreclosures this year, about 30 percent above the 28,453 recorded in 2006, which was 31 percent higher than 2005."

"'I thought I would see some moderation and flattening,' said Ryan McMaken, a Housing Division spokesman who compiled the report. '(But) we will exceed last year's numbers.'"

"Distressed sales, either lender-owned foreclosures or short sales, have come to represent more than half of all transactions in many parts of the metro Denver market, said Tom Steele, an Aurora real estate agent who specializes in short sales."

"Colorado would have probably recorded more foreclosures in the first quarter if mortgage companies weren't so backed up and overwhelmed, said Zachary Urban, the foreclosure hotline's supervisor."

"'They aren't foreclosing on people, because they don't have the resources,' he said."

The Coloradoan. "Lennar Homes, developers of two housing developments in Loveland, laid off 76 workers last week, essentially pulling out of Northern Colorado's slow housing market."

"Lennar continues to market homes in Hunters Run II and LakeShore II in Loveland and St. Vrain Ranch in Firestone. Realtor Eric Holsapple said virtually every national builder pulled out of the market as soon as it slowed. 'It really impacted our market negatively in the way they exited the market,' Holsapple said."

"National builders came in, put up subdivisions full of homes, then offered incentives to help them sell quickly. Local builders couldn't compete, Holsapple said. In Hunters Run, for example, Holsapple said Lennar put up 40 to 50 homes to build out the subdivision, then priced them to sell quickly."

"'It's been their strategy of exiting the market; they finish out the subdivision then sell the homes for what they had to sell them for,' he said."

In Business Las Vegas from Nevada. "It's been a difficult 12 months for the real estate community. About 900 Realtors gathered April 26-27 at the Las Vegas Convention Center to take continuing education classes, visit with old friends and take stock of their industry."

"Rose Holden has seen it all before in more than 30 years in the business. The market will rebound, hopefully by the end of the year, she said. She adds the caveat that her crystal ball is broken."

"'The mood is typical,' Holden said. 'Everybody is worried that there's no business...The business is still out there. It is just a little slower than they are used to. You have to work a lot, but some people are not used to work.'"

"Inventory remains high and sales remain slow because many sellers have been reluctant to lower their price to match what's happening in the market. Homes priced correctly will sell, said Realtor Donna Brass."

"'The problem is many investors who entered the market late keep wishing for a dream, hoping for a star that's never coming,' Brass said. Even banks that take possession of homes are holding out for unrealistic prices, she said."

"Brass said she expects prices to drop at least 10 percent. That prediction is in line with those of the Nevada Association of Realtors and other analysts."

"'I am not seeing the prices drop yet, and that's surprising me. I think you will see it in six months and in December, they will be crying hard,' Brass said. 'The best deal ever will be in December. It will be the bargain of a lifetime.'"

The Review Journal from Nevada. "Realtors need to separate fact from fiction to protect clients from the 'subprime tsunami' and false pretenses of getting rich quickly in real estate, a panel of home loan experts said Wednesday."

"'We're never going to see 54 percent appreciation again, I have a hunch,' Shane Watson, managing partner of Direct Access Lending, said during a three-hour symposium for local Realtors. 'We believe the market is very strong here and this is just the calm before the storm.'"

"Watson said that Nevada leading the nation in foreclosure filings and Clark County being second to Los Angeles County is actually good for the industry. It will drive away investors who entered the market with marginal credit and perhaps even misrepresented their income on loan applications, he said."

"'What's the old saying? Buyers are liars,' he said."

"Andrew Pugh of SellFastLV.com said anecdotal evidence from his business suggests that many owners have little or no home equity despite the price boom of 2003-2004. That's why those facing foreclosure aren't able to cut their prices and 'be done with it,' he said."

"One woman bought her house in July 2003 for $170,000, 'absolute perfect timing' as things started to run up for the next 12 months, Pugh said. Last August she refinanced for $300,000. Now she's behind on payments and needs to sell, but comparable sales in her neighborhood are only $270,000."

"'You can't slash the price below what you owe on the house,' he said. 'I seriously think most people in Vegas pulled out all their equity and blew it on who-knows-what. Those 10,000 or 11,000 vacant properties on the (MLS) represent anxious sellers that are slowly bleeding to death and would love to sell at just about any price.'"

"'Unfortunately, I can't do anything for these people and neither can a real estate agent,' Pugh said. 'They might be able to short sale if they can find a buyer, prove they're insolvent and don't get lost in the bank's bureaucracy. Good luck. Otherwise, they'll go back to the bank in a few months and then show up as REOs down the road. Now, the real question is, where did all that refi money go?'"