The Times Herald reports from California. "The number of home foreclosures in Solano County is rising along with those of other Bay Area counties, even as local median home prices continue to fall, industry experts report. In Solano County, the median price of a home sold was $428,000 last month, a 7 percent drop from $460,000 in April, 2006, according to a recent California Association of Realtors report."

"Within the county, Dixon saw the sharpest decline, 16.3 percent, while Vallejo's median sold home price dipped just over 4 percent."

"Solano Association of Realtors president Jeff Dennis acknowledged that in the past several years, Solano County had more than its share of home buyers who secured subprime mortgages they couldn't really afford, with no down payment."

"Often, as prices decline, these folks find they owe more on their home than it's worth, and as their low teaser interest rates adjust up, many are finding it less painful to just walk away."

"It's a problem shared by many Bay Area counties, particularly Contra Costa and Alameda, Dennis said."

"Benicia mortgage broker Mitchell Chernok, said it's not unreasonable to expect 'a wave of foreclosures' to sweep Solano County for the next several months."

"Chernok and Dennis agree that after the dust settles, there may be an upside. 'The light at the end of the tunnel will be a lot more affordable housing in the county,' Chernok said."

"'We can't continue living like it's 2004,' during the red hot Bay Area real estate market, Dennis said."

The San Francisco Chronicle. "Amid slumping home sales and pessimistic forecasts, a subdued group of builders gathered at Moscone Center this week for the Pacific Coast Builders Conference."

"'There are fewer people here and there's not the upbeat intensity there was a couple of years ago,' said show-goer Frank Prach, owner of an architecture, building and design firm in Auburn (Placer County). 'There is a sense of uncertainty.'"

"Robert Becker, president of Wintergreen Enterprises Inc. in Tiburon, said sales have stalled at a high-end development his company has in El Dorado Hills near Sacramento. From 2003 through 2005, it sold 55 lots ranging from $400,000 to $700,000 for custom, $2 million homes. Last year it sold two lots."

"'This year, there is nothing,' he said. 'Nobody comes through the subdivision. I think we're in for a down year and we're in a bad situation for next year.'"

The Mercury News. "Consumers are leery of buying new homes now, agreed Southern California builder Brian Catalde at another session Thursday."

"Catalde, who is president this year of the National Association of Home Builders, said that in 2006 his customers visited a new-home community's sales office an average of twice before they bought. But now people make eight to 12 visits without buying."

"When asked why, nearly three-quarters of them said they feared they'd buy a home and then the builder would lower prices again, effectively wiping out new buyers' home equity."

"'People don't pull the trigger because they're afraid they're going to lose their down payment, and I don't blame them,' Catalde said. 'I'd be concerned too.'"

"In a sign of the leaner times for the home building industry, attendance at this year's PCBC show fell to about 28,000 from about 31,000 last year. The show's theme of 'the new basics' was highlighted with slogans adorning the entrances to the trade show floor that read 'rethink,' 'reconnect' and 'refocus.'"

The Sacramento Bee. "Like all businesses, real estate is one grounded in optimism. It likes to minimize doubt and look for the silver lining. So it's not surprising that when its industry prophets make forecasts, they lean toward high. Nor does it come as a surprise when they revise downward."

"On Thursday, the California Building Industry Association did the dance. It now projects 20,000 fewer permits for new houses and condos in 2007 than it predicted in January."

"Alan Nevin, CBIA chief economist, is downsizing expectations for the Sacramento area, too. In January he predicted 13,500 to 16,500 residential building permits for El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties. His new guess is 10,500 to 12,800."

"In early 2006 Nevin said Sacramento was likely to repeat the frenetic home-building activity of 2005. That was revised, too."

The Orange County Register. "Mid-May home-selling stats from DataQuick show buyers seriously balking. Sales activity was down a sharp 35% vs. a year ago for the 22 business days ended May 15. If that holds, last month will have been the slowest selling May in DataQuick's 20-year history of O.C. real estate."

The Desert Sun. "Coachella Valley leaders gathered Thursday to address a looming crisis. Only 10 percent of valley residents are able to afford the $400,000 median-priced home and the nation's eighth-worst house-price-to-household-income ratio."

"The valley could end up like Orange County, said economist John Husing, where expensive homes and even rents force much of the workforce to drive long distances in bumper-to-bumper traffic."

"A simple trip to Redlands will become a mess, Husing told the crowd. 'You need to have affordable housing here or you're condemning people to an abominable lifestyle,' Husing said."

The Gilroy Dispatch. "The number of default notices in Gilroy nearly tripled in early 2007 compared to early 2006, according to a DataQuick. The trend is driven by sagging home values, which have prevented owners from simply reselling their homes when overdue payments stack up."

"'Honestly, I don't think we've even begun to chip away at the iceberg in South County,' said Nuemi Guzman, a predatory lending intake worker with the Fair Housing Law Project based in San Jose."

"'The lender often takes a hit on this,' added Martin Eichner, director of dispute resolution programs for a tenants' rights organization with an office in Gilroy. 'It's the guys in the middle, the brokers, who make the money.'"

"A bill that would have created a pool of money to help subprime mortgage borrowers facing foreclosures to refinance their loans died in the state Assembly Appropriations committee Thursday."

"The measure, AB1538, would have allowed some of those homeowners to refinance their loans with affordable interest rates by using a new fund created by tapping into the housing bond that voters approved in November, floating bonds in the future and asking banks that have large numbers of subprime customers who face foreclosure to pitch in."