The Jeffersonian reports from Maryland. "The national increase in mortgage defaults during the last six months has not spared the northeast area of Baltimore County. During the 2002-2006 boom years, as house values kept escalating, home owners could easily refinance, since rising appraisals gave their properties more equity than they had paid in."

"But in mid-2006, the merry-go-round stopped whirling. 'Many clients assumed the boom would keep going. But we (professionals) know from history that they never do. They always end,' said Sherrie Brandquist, a housing counselor."

"Some home appraisals are going down, and those homeowners find themselves with a house worth less than the amount they owe on the mortgage."

"Brandquist said the boom times also encouraged a few lenders to make loans that would not pass muster today, as interest rates have risen and lenders clamp down on poorer risks. 'It was greed at its finest,' she said."

"As an example, Brandquist mentioned a person earning $25,000 who was granted an adjustable mortgage for $300,000."

"Joseph Banick, veteran agent with RE/MAX Elite Realty, said he has noted more clients telling him they could no longer afford their homes and needed to sell. Banick said they were often young couples under 35 living beyond their means and discovering that the 'well has run dry.'"

"Banick joined the housing counselor in saying the current situation will get worse before it gets better. 'A lot of people are going to be humbled in the next few years,' Banick said."

"The reason? Many adjustable-rate mortgages taken out by home buyers during the boom have passed their first two years at a fixed rate and stand to rise dramatically, often $500 or more per month, Banick said."

"'People assumed they could re-finance at a lower fixed rate, but it's not there anymore,' said Kevin Goodnight, a salesman who specializes in foreclosed properties."

"Goodnight noted a statewide total of more than 5,000 bankruptcies awaiting court action. Most of those people will also lose their homes, he said, because filing for bankruptcy only stays foreclosure action for 30 days. Under new bankruptcy laws passed a couple years ago, a person's house is no longer protected."

The Frederick News Post from Maryland. "Tougher standards have made subprime loans more difficult to qualify for, and that means they will have little affect on reducing the number of foreclosures in Frederick County. Foreclosures totaled 809 in Frederick County for the 12-month period ending in May."

"'It's been years since I've seen those numbers,' said Michael Kurtianyk, director of residential sales for Tyler-Donegan Real Estate in Urbana. 'The high numbers are a function of people buying homes above their means, and lenders giving money above their means. Now it's time to pay the piper.'"

"Foreclosures in the county are at their highest level in 40 years, said Bill Poffenbarger, CEO of Millennium Financial Group in Middletown. 'The government made it easy to buy houses because the rates were so low over the last six years,' Poffenbarger said. 'People were scratching to get into a house.'"

"The key factor during any loan application is when a lender seeks the applicant's credit score, which ranges from 350, the lowest, to a perfect score of 850."

"A score of 620 used to qualify a borrower for a subprime loan, Kurtianyk said, but in the wake of foreclosures nationwide, the bottom score has shifted to 640."

"Frederick County (home) sales locally were up by 34 homes to 264, according to the Maryland Association of Realtors. However, the average price was down. The average price for a home sold in Frederick County in May was $349,718, down from $354,740 in May 2006."

"'The market is stabilizing,' said Terry Fox, president of the Frederick County Association of Realtors."

"'We're seeing a lot of people looking at the lower end of the market, below $500,000,' said Stephen Mackintosh of Mackintosh Inc. Realtors. 'At the upper end there is still a glut of inventory.'"

"That inventory is nearly 2,300 homes for sale in Frederick County, up from about 1,800 for May 2006."

"'Savvy home buyers are out there looking,' Mackintosh said. 'There is a great window of opportunity for negotiation. Sellers are getting realistic with pricing.'"

"The housing market stalled last year after a five-year run of soaring prices and buyers, many of them investors, lined up to acquire property. Higher mortgage rates, a slowdown in sales and the growing problem of foreclosures put the brakes on the market."

"In neighboring Montgomery County, home sales fell by more than 330 to 1,001 from May 2006 to May 2007. Montgomery has nearly 6,000 homes on the market."

The Virginia Pilot. "It may finally be a go for Granby Tower. Contractors have been given the green light to start building the 34-story, $180.5 million complex of luxury condominiums, offices and shops, developer Buddy Gadams said Wednesday."

"The oft-delayed project will be the city's tallest building, at 490 feet. The only work to date on the project, announced in July 2004, has been the driving of test piles and relocating underground utility lines."

"Gadams referred questions about when work would begin to Turner executive Christian E. Jahrling, who did not return calls Wednesday."

"The project has been beset by delays. Most recently, a May 9 groundbreaking came and went with no construction activity. Gadams attributed that delay to finalizing the building's $145 million loan." "A $22 million city grant will also help pay for the project, along with Marathon Development's own funds."

"When asked Wednesday if the financing was in place for the project, Gadams said he wouldn't have told general contractor Turner Construction Co. to start work if he didn't have the money. John Plunkett, a Stonington Capital managing partner, said the presence of the notice-to-proceed e-mail made it 'probably safe to assume' that the money deal was done."

"On May 31, Gadams said about half the project's 302 residential units, ranging in price from $270,000 to more than $1 million, had been sold. Now the project is getting off the ground amid a national housing slump."