What do you see in your housing market this weekend? Statistics? Inventory? "According to statistics compiled by the Northwest MLS, the average sale price of a home in King County in June actually fell from May. And there are more homes on the market in King County compared with last year, giving buyers a little more breathing room. According to the NWMLS, there are 12,282 active listings, which compares with 8,011 in June 2006, which is an increase of more than 53 percent."

Or foreclosures? "Foreclosures continue to rise on Long Island, as the lure of sub-prime mortgage rates puts more homeowners behind the eight ball. There was an increase of nearly 35 percent in scheduled auction sales over the last two months here, according to Pat Ammirati, general manager of Long Island Profiles."

"The number of bank notices has more than doubled over last year, Ammirati said." "In North Hempstead, there were eight sales of foreclosure properties totaling about $1 million in all of 2006; this year, there are already eight foreclosure sales totaling $8.7 million."

Construction trends? "The slow housing market continues to be a drain on Newport Beach homebuilder William Lyon Homes Inc. William Lyon posted an 11% year-over-year decrease in new home orders in the second quarter. Home orders were down sharply in Arizona and Nevada."

"Turning home orders into actual sales continues to be a challenge for the company. William Lyon closed on 548 homes companywide in second quarter, down 29% from a year ago. In California, home closings decreased 32%. That’s a 5% drop from the first quarter."

"The company’s cancellation rate remains troublesome. The cancellation rate for the quarter was 32%, up 7% from the first quarter."

"The traditionally strong spring housing market turned out to be a dud for local builders. New-home sales in Dallas-Fort Worth were down more than 17 percent in the quarter ended June 30."

"At the end of June, about 13,000 single-family homes were under construction in North Texas, according to Metrostudy. Just under 11,000 vacant new homes in the D-FW area were recorded in June. While sales dropped, the number of homes on the market rose 8 percent, topping 50,000 houses for sale in North Texas."

Tighter lending? "Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have tightened their policies for purchasing high-priced, high-risk home loans from lenders amid stress in the housing market. The policies issued Friday by the two government-sponsored companies were in response to a directive from the federal agency that regulates the mortgage finance giants."

"U.S. state officials plan to issue guidance next week to tighten subprime mortgage lending by brokers and originators not regulated by the federal government, the Conference of State Bank Supervisors said on Friday."

"So far about 27 states and the District of Colombia plan to adopt the guidance within 48 hours after it is issued on Tuesday. No state has indicated that it will not eventually adopt it, they said."

"The states issued the same standards as federal regulators when adopting nontraditional mortgage guidance last November. They are expected to do the same with the subprime guidance."