The Record reports from New Jersey. "A Hoboken developer, Remi Cos., plans to jump-start sales of its new condo development with a public auction next Sunday. The auction is occurring against a backdrop of lower demand and lower prices for condos nationwide. 'We can sell the units quickly, and people can get a discount,' said Remi CEO Erik A. Kaiser."

"James Hughes, a Rutgers economist who has studied the state's housing market, said the results of the Velocity auction will be an important indicator. 'If they are able to auction all the units off at reasonable prices, maybe there's demand there at specific prices. But if it falls on its face, we're in real trouble...and we may have an oversupply of units,' he said."

"The minimum bids in the auction start at $295,000 for a 790-square-foot one-bedroom unit. That previously had an asking price of $450,000. A three-bedroom, three-bath, 1,549-square-foot condo has a minimum bid of $545,000, compared with an earlier asking price of $865,000. Monthly condo fees range from $347 to $680."

"'An auction is really letting consumers set the price,' Kaiser said. 'The market is going to pay what the market is going to pay. We know there are going to be bargains and deals. Why not create a new way to let the consumer tell you now what the price is going to be, rather than wait six months?'"

The Star Ledger from New Jersey. "The house in Manalapan went for more than $1 million. And that was only the first time it was sold."

"Within days after the first deal, the same buyer and seller closed on at least two additional mortgages on the house, each time using different attorneys, title agents and banks who had no clue the property was already mortgaged to the hilt, illegally obtaining millions more in financing."

"Mortgage fraud in New Jersey is increasing at a faster rate than anywhere else in the country. The number of complaints from financial institutions in New Jersey grew more than 208 percent last year, according to a report."

"'We've seen an increase in fraud every year since 1997,' said Sean McCarthy, an FBI special agent who is looking at the Manalapan sale. It has apparently become the most lucrative way to rob a bank. According to McCarthy, the losses to mortgage fraud now far exceed those from counterfeit checks and other banking schemes."

"New Jersey's property values have been rising, making fraud more inviting. A major Camden drug dealer who was later convicted told cohorts that flipping dilapidated houses was more profitable than selling drugs, and a number of criminal gangs have been tied to illegal mortgage schemes."

"Attorney Jaimee Sussner said she has seen complicit closing attorneys, appraisers more than willing to inflate the value of a property, and mortgage companies ready to look the other way in order to quickly close on any deal possible."

"'No one is looking,' she said. 'And there's even less attention on high-end deals, so if you're determined to steal, you might as well steal a lot of money.'"

The Daily News from New York. "You can forget about oceanfront views from high-rise balconies and takeout from Nathan's Famous. Mega-developer Thor Equities, which has reportedly laid out more than $100 million so far to rejuvenate Coney Island, has given up on plans for a highly profitable residential component to its Las Vegas-style amusement park project."

"'Thor has believed from the beginning that the amusement and entertainment aspect of the project was the most important aspect of the project,' Thor spokesman Lee Silberstein said."

"Now, the plan will have no residential component and no 50-story tower, as had been proposed, Silberstein said. 'It's significantly smaller,' Silberstein said of the overall project. He refused to divulge specifics of a revised plan or to say how Thor would profit without the sale of luxury condos."

The Record Online from New York. "You don't need these eye-popping numbers to know young people are fleeing our region: Between 1990 and 2000, the number of residents ages 20-34 in Orange, Ulster and Sullivan counties dropped by 25,000 while the rest of the population grew by 51,000."

"You knew things were bad before last week's Sunday Record story, 'Young, Gifted and Not Coming Back.' You watched your sons, daughters and neighbors leave for better jobs, cheaper housing and lower taxes."

"'I want to kiss goodbye overpriced bills from Central Hudson, overinflated gas prices, insurance, taxes and living expenses,' wrote one resident who's moving to South Carolina. 'I'll be able to buy a house for half of what mine sells for, and I'll invest the rest to live off the dividends, along with working. New York — thanks for kicking us (out).'"

The Baltimore Sun from Maryland. "Maryland's number of borrowers in trouble spiked sharply in the first three months of the year. The share of loans in the foreclosure process in the state rose nearly 30 percent compared with the first quarter of last year, according to a Mortgage Bankers Association survey. The share of borrowers behind on their payments rose nearly 20 percent."

"The increase in loans in the foreclosure process here was the largest in nearly 10 years."

"Delinquencies and foreclosures dropped during the housing boom. But more borrowers began to fall behind as boom turned to slump. The final three months of 2006 was the first time since early 2002, in the aftermath of the last recession, that the inventory of foreclosures increased year over year."

"'I think there is a clear indication that the number of foreclosures is only going to increase,' said Phillip R. Robinson, executive director of a Baltimore legal-help group."

"Borrowers in the state were behind on about 36,700 mortgages in the first three months of the year. That's about 3.5 percent of all mortgages."

CNBC on Maryland. "When the tech bubble went bust in 2000, Maryland homeowner Rick Boardman took his money out of the stock market and put it in something he thought would be safer, real estate. 'We thought it was a good investment, but also something we could enjoy and might change our lifestyle too,' says Boardman."

"He and his wife bought 20 acres of valuable waterfront property in Maryland confident it would turn an easy profit. Boardman remembers the summer of 200 as a time when 'everything was just boom, boom, boom, especially on the eastern shore.'"

"Boardman built two homes; one to sell, which would finance the other, his dream home. But the $2 million home has been on the market for over a year, and Boardman can’t make the mortgage payments anymore. Work on his dream home stopped."

"'What was our dream has become a financial nightmare. Our goal now is just to get out with something to pay off the debt,' says Boardman. 'We’ve come to the absolute end of the road.'"