The Ledger reports from Florida. "It's going to take time to clear out the 4,500 to 5,000 homes the Polk County Builders Association estimates is waiting in builder inventories. 'Nothing is hot,' said Mark Hulbert, president of Hulbert Homes in Lakeland. 'Everything is moving at a slower pace.'"

"For Highland Homes, which typically produces 750 homes a year, sales are down 30 percent, said Joel Adams, the Lakeland company's VP. 'We think we are better off than most,' he said. 'Several years ago, we sold off some of our land base. Basically, if you have a high land base now, you are in trouble.'"

"Many of Highland Home's house packages start between $150,000 and $160,000. 'If you're not a price-conscious builder and run a tight ship, you're going to be in trouble the next eight months to a year,' Adams said."

"Southern Homes, which typically builds more than 300 homes a year, is projecting it will not exceed 200 homes in 2007. And while not all of the company's inventory has been discounted, buyers can find homes up to $30,000 off the sticker price."

"Traditionally, price cuts of about 10 percent are more common, said John Wood, whose company builds about 50 homes a year. 'An empty house does no one any good,' he said. 'The worst I've heard of is a 30 percent cut. To me, that's a little overboard. Ten percent is more in line with the market. I think just about every builder is offering some incentive.'"

"'It's a buyer's market,' said Scott Coulombe, executive director of the Polk County Builders Association. 'It is not a seller's market. But we are dropping down to what the norm was in 2001-2002, which is what we were expecting.'"

The Herald Tribune. "With the release of his new market study, 'North Port Revealed,' (appraiser) Dennis Black is likely to become a household name in record time. The study presents a bleak picture of North Port's real estate market, a market in which hundreds of homes sit unoccupied and hundreds more are up for sale."

"'There is vacant home after vacant home, all of them built on spec with no buyer,' Black said. 'It amounts to a gross oversupply.'"

"His advice to people looking to buy houses in North Port: 'Find out who owns those vacant houses and make an offer. Then just wait till you find someone willing to meet your price.'"

The Atlanta Journal Constitution from Georgia. "Throughout metro Atlanta, agents and brokers are reporting slowed sales and rising inventories of unsold houses."

"From May 2006 to May 2007, inventories of unsold houses in metro Atlanta soared in every county, climbing between 18 percent and 70 percent in just one year, depending on the area. Hardest hit were Rockdale County, where inventory increased more than 70 percent to more than one year's supply, and south Fulton, where a 53 percent increase pushed supply to almost 13 months."

"Dac Carver, marketing director for Metro Brokers GMAC, said Atlanta's market slowdown began last spring and 'the bottom fell out at the end of the year.'"

"'South Fulton,' Carver said, 'a few years ago was the talk of the town. Everybody was flocking there. Then, the months supply [of unsold homes] just rocketed up.'"

"'Net sales are slower than they were last year, and not only are sales slower but [contract] cancellations are up,' said Greg Duriez, division president for KB Home. KB Home is reporting about 30 percent of its contracts for new homes in metro Atlanta are being canceled before closing."

"Metro Atlanta is unquestionably a buyer's market, with developers sweetening their incentive packages and sellers showing great flexibility in price negotiations. 'Don't be afraid to ask for things now,' Carver said."

Bloomberg reports from Georgia. "Only the possums are enjoying the backyard of 2035 Lilac Lane in Decatur, Georgia, where Wall Street titan Bear Stearns Cos. is just another homeowner by default."

"It's a mess,' said Kiwanna Ford, who grew up next door to the vacant brick ranch-style house four miles south of the DeKalb County Courthouse. Bear Stearns seized the property three months ago after Ford's neighbor stopped making payments on his mortgage. 'If we wanted to sell our house right now with that next door, it would hurt,' she said."

"After selling the property last week, Bear Stearns said it still owns 18 houses in the Decatur area acquired since November. Citigroup Inc., Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch & Co., Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. are listed in public records as the owners of at least 35 homes in the suburb."

"The value of U.S. homes held by commercial banks swelled 53 percent nationwide to $2.3 billion at the end of March, the highest since 1992, from $1.5 billion a year earlier, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp."

"The dilemma facing banks is whether to pay maintenance costs or dump the properties at fire-sale prices, said Keith Gumbinger, vice president at a mortgage research firm. Both options can reduce real estate values. 'No lender wants to own real estate, but at the same time you can't just unload these properties because you would send home prices into a freefall,' Gumbinger said."

"Bear Stearns took possession of the three-bedroom Lilac Lane house for $76,500 on March 6, according to the foreclosure deed. The owner who defaulted had purchased the house in April 2005 for $160,000 using a subprime loan that required no money down. He had been renting it out, according to the neighbor, Ford."

"The lender was Meritage Mortgage Corp., one of more than 60 subprime home loan companies that have halted operations, gone bankrupt or sought buyers since the start of 2006, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Bear Stearns had bought the mortgage from Meritage at a discount."

"The firm sold the Lilac Lane house on June 28 for $84,000, said Elisa Marks, a Bear Stearns spokeswoman. That's about half the price paid two years ago."

"Whether selling at auction or using a real estate broker, lenders usually get 'cents on the dollar,' which undermines the confidence of mortgage bond investors by showing property values are nowhere near the loans they collateralize, said Keith Shaughnessy, president of Foundation Mortgage Corp."

"'It will have a decimating effect on the mortgage-backed securities market when lenders start facing the music and letting property go at whatever price people will pay,' Shaughnessy said."

"'I hope they'd continue to hold them, because selling them at a price that's too low would have an adverse effect on the neighborhood,' DeKalb County Commissioner Connie Stokes, who is also a real estate broker, said of Decatur-area foreclosures."

"In Decatur, JPMorgan owns a brick ranch-style house on Kelley Lake Road, according to the tax assessor's office. Bear Stearns holds a second mortgage on the property, said spokeswoman Renu Aldrich. The vacant house sits across the street from an elementary school."

"The former owners bought the three-bedroom property in September 2005 for $155,000 with no down payment, using a so- called piggyback loan, or a second mortgage taken out at the time of sale, according to the deed. Both loans (are) now defaulted."

"'It's sad to see the empty houses,' said Janette Brown, who has lived two doors away for 25 years. 'I'm worried about what it might do to the values.'"