The Providence Journal reports from Rhode Island. "Rising home foreclosures in Rhode Island could claim a new casualty, house prices. In 2005, house sales in Rhode Island outnumbered foreclosure auctions advertised in The Providence Journal by 14 to 1. Now, that ratio has narrowed to less than 3 to 1."

"'That’s the possible storm cloud on the horizon,' said Timothy Warren Jr., CEO of The Warren Group. 'There’s a threat that those distressed properties, whether they sell at auction or are dealt with another way, could have an impact on the market.'"

"Lenders advertised 678 houses in Rhode Island for foreclosure auction during the first quarter, up 122 percent from the same period last year, according to a Journal analysis of newspaper legal ads. The pace is on track to exceed last year, when just over 1,850 homes were advertised for foreclosure sale, which was more than twice as many as in 2005."

"There were 5,639 single-family houses on the market in Rhode Island as of the end of March, the largest number for that time of year since 1997, according to data provided by the statewide MLS to the Rhode Island Association of Realtors."

The Union Leader from New Hampshire. "Hundreds of New Hampshire homeowners are losing their homes to foreclosure, victims of a nationwide crisis within the 'subprime' mortgage industry. And experts say it's going to get worse before it gets better."

"'We're in for a Nantucket sleigh ride,' declared Ben Niles, past president of the Mortgage Bankers and Brokers Association of New Hampshire. 'The damage is done. People are in mortgages they should never have been in, whether it's their fault or someone else's fault, and there's no easy way out.'"

"'It's compounded by the fact the market's oversupplied and flat, so it's hard to sell a house today. And, depending on your loan-to-value-ratio, it can be hard to refinance,' he said."

"'This is the beginning of the beginning,' said Peter Hildreth, the state's banking commissioner. 'It is very scary stuff.'"

The Associated Press from New Jersey. "Deborah Beatty recognizes that she and her family could lose their home in Jersey City, across the Hudson River from New York, because they can't afford the mortgage. The newly constructed three-level home offers a view of the Manhattan skyline and the Statue of Liberty from Beatty's master bedroom window."

"Her daughter, a graduate student with an annual income of less than $20,000, qualified for a mortgage of $600,000 with no money down, split into two different loans of 8.75 percent and 12.5 percent."

"With income from tenants, which didn't happen right away, Beatty's daughter thought she could afford monthly payments of nearly $5,000. But she hasn't made a mortgage payment in more than three months, and she's receiving letters threatening foreclosure."

"Beatty acknowledged the mortgage was probably too good to be true, and now her house is on the market. The family wouldn't be able to afford buying another house and would likely rent, she said. 'It's embarrassing,' Beatty said."

The Long Island Business News from New York. "Long Island’s economists aren’t panicking yet, but they are clearly worried. It was easy to predict a drop from 2004-2005 when home prices rose at an unsustainable rate. So the slight fall in median housing prices isn’t a shock."

"The bigger problem is in the subprime market, as 12 percent of Long Island’s riskiest borrowers are at least 60 days late on mortgage payments, up considerably from 7 percent a year ago."

"'Our home prices were so out of line,' said Pearl Kamer, chief economist for the Long Island Association. 'A lot of people bought more house than they could afford and that’s why we’re likely to see a continued decline. We haven’t seen the worst of this and the decline could last into 2009.'"

"Those looking to sell are waiting much longer to shed property. There’s an 18-month supply of homes on the market here, the highest level since 1991. 'A lot of homeowners took their homes off the market, figuring they could come back in the spring,' said Irwin Kellner, chief economist for North Fork Bank. 'But sales are still dropping and homes are still staying on the market longer.'"

From KDKA 2 in Pennsylvania. "Housing foreclosures are at a record high in Allegheny County and it’s not just happening in poor communities. At today’s monthly sheriff’s sale at the county courthouse, there was one house on the block worth more than $800,000."

"'Mortgage foreclosure knows no boundaries any longer. It can go from the blighted areas to the most affluent,' County Sgt. Rich Fersch said."

"Real estate agent Jo Ann Milseky says people are buying those big houses with risky mortgage packages that require no money down and interest payments only, or they refinanced and have taken on additional debt."

"She says banks and mortgage brokers have greased the skids. 'I definitely think it's the lenders, talk real fast and say you can afford this. We'll get the mortgage for you,' Milseky said."

The Philadelphia Inquirer from Pennsylvania. "A New York auctioneer said yesterday that it would take bids for the Old City site of a proposed 33-story, 236-unit luxury condominium development that has not progressed beyond the planning stage."

"'We have flat prices, rising inventories and dropping sales,' said Kevin C. Gillen, a Wharton School economist who monitors the local housing market. 'The numbers are even worse for the condo market.' He said the turnover rate for condos was about a third of what it was last fall.'"