The Journal Constitution reports from Georgia. "Teresa Weathers may have bitten off more of the American Dream than she can afford. Recently laid off from her job as a mortgage loan processor and unable to find more work, the Clayton County resident is two months behind on the $1,345 monthly mortgage on her $125,000 four-bedroom townhouse."

"The number of foreclosures is particularly startling in the communities south of Atlanta. Nearly 1 in 20 homes in Clayton County is in foreclosure, the highest ratio in the region, according to a recently released Atlanta Regional Commission report."

"And Clayton has the second-highest percentage of subprime home loans of any county in the nation. The report also found Henry County has the highest percentage increase in foreclosures of any metro Atlanta county, jumping by 327 percent from 2001 to 2006. "

"ARC officials caution that the rising foreclosure rate has occurred during a housing boom in the Atlanta region. Despite the foreclosure problems, townhouses are now springing up in the suburbs, in places such as McDonough and Marietta. About 125 new homes a day are built in the Atlanta area, according to data from the ARC report."

"'So it's not that surprising there's a high number of foreclosures given the [aggressive] lending market we have,' said Mike Carnathan, who wrote the ARC report."

The Gwinnett Daily Post from Georgia. "Housing foreclosures are soaring throughout metro Atlanta, an alarming consequence of mortgage costs that increasingly are outstripping growth in wages, a regional planning agency reported Wednesday."

"There were nearly 43,000 foreclosures last year in the 10 counties that make up the Atlanta Regional Commission, up nearly 200 percent from the more than 14,000 that occurred in 2000."

"While counties throughout the region are seeing a high number of sub-prime loans, Clayton and Rockdale counties are among the highest in the nation. More than 38 percent of home loans in Clayton came from sub-prime lenders in 2004, second highest in the country. Rockdale ranked fourth in the nation with sub-prime loans making up 34 percent of its total for that year."

"Susan Adams of the Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership pointed to a report her organization did back in 2004 that showed a mismatch between the area's housing stock and the incomes of most of its residents and between the locations of affordable housing and jobs."

"The report found a shortage of 185,000 units of housing that are both affordable and accessible to job centers. Adams said that's a huge problem considering that one-third of the region's households earn no more than $40,000."

"'We have an oversupply of higher-end executive homes,' she said."

From WDEF 12 in Tennessee. "The housing boom during early part of the decade ended in a bust for some homeowners. Where does Chattanooga fit into this national problem?" "This morning, a husband and wife stayed away from the Hamilton County Courthouse as their Woodmore Lane home sold at a foreclosure auction. 'A bid of $50,000 to FSG bank, going once twice, sold.'"

"It's on to the next house, for the trustee running this auction. On this day, nearly a dozen homes in foreclosure will be sold."

"Financial planners say a few years ago, people with credit issues entered the housing market, using a sub-prime loan. Aside from sub-prime loans, foreclosure factors include buyers purchasing more of a home than they could afford and adjustable rate mortgages, which shot monthly payments up hundreds, if not thousands of dollars."

"Jim Place of Evergreen Management says 'most of the people aren't going to lose their house because they lost their job, they're going to because their payments have become too expensive.'"

The Leaf Chronicle from Tennessee. "New home construction market analyst Edsel Charles told a group of local builders, developers, lenders and realtors this week that Clarksville still has a 'heck of a good, doggone market,' but he continued to warn of a 'problem coming down the road.'"

"Charles continued to beg builders to plan for a growing influx of retirees. 'here in Montgomery County, you need more lot inventory in the under $175,000 category. We haven't taken the time to fully understand that market, and the truth is, it's going to become 30 to 35 percent of this market,' Charles said."

"The two highest growth areas of Montgomery County continue to be the area near Interstate 24, and Sango. In the northeastern quadrant of the county, there are now 915 more lots for development than existed a year ago, and 298 more in Sango."

"In all, the county has 125 subdivisions with 17,001 lots, according to Market Graphics' numbers."

"'One problem I see is that rising prices are also driven to some degree by rising land prices in Montgomery County. Montgomery County's current average price on closings is now around $183,000. That's getting to be a little high. It should be just a little lower than that,' he said."

The News Journal from Florida. "Authorities investigating online sales of unbuildable swampland near Daytona Beach have seized $178,000 worth of cars, including a Hummer and Dodge Viper."

"A warrant served at the 2,700-square-foot Ormond Beach home of James A. Kelly last week was just the start in a state investigation of real estate fraud for peddling 'paper subdivisions' in wetlands to unsuspecting victims, mostly from South Florida."

"Among real estate transactions Kelly handled, records show Beata Jeune of Spring Valley, N.Y., bought five acres from him for $32,000 in August 2005. But the land has a listed value of $2,500, according to the Volusia County property appraiser."

"Marketing such properties is nothing new; books and newspaper stories have been printed on the subject statewide since at least the 1960s. The same hooks for speculators and dreamers remain, but the Internet has made it easier to reach out to faraway buyers. Kelly used the Ebay Internet auction site to make some sales, officials said."

"Several buyers claimed they were bilked; buying without seeing the property and only learning they could not build on the sites after they had paid."

"All said they would not have bought the land if they knew they could not get building permits for the lots, the affidavit states. Some, according to the affidavit, claim Kelly got angry when they asked 'why he was doing business on the side of the road.'"

"'All the individuals who questioned Kelly felt extremely pressured to make the purchase,' the affidavit states."