What do you see in your housing market this weekend? Lower prices "In a recent Web chat, a reader from Manassas summed up what is probably the overriding concern of many local homeowners: 'How much lower is this residential market going to go? I have already lost over $200,000 in value compared to what I paid for my house in Gainesville last year! Even after taking the down payment into consideration, I owe more than what the house is worth! Help!!!'"

"Let's pause and let that number sink in. Two hundred thousand dollars. Gone. Lea Morris, an agent with Long & Foster's Gainesville office, says a decline of that magnitude is indeed possible."

"'The list prices we have now are much lower than a year ago,' she said. She's frustrated that so many buyers are still sitting on the fence despite the negotiating leverage they have. 'They can go in and offer a lower sales price and get all their closing costs paid,' Morris said."

Reporting changes? "One view is that it hurts sellers, another is that it helps buyers. The bottom line is that you, the real estate professional are in the best position to explain to your customer, buyer or seller, what the true DOM figure is and what it means."

"To that end, the SoCalMLS BOD, after getting input from MLS Committees and other practitioners, have decided to remove the Days on Market and Cumulative Days on Market fields from all Client reports."

Lending news? "Bad bets revealed by some hedge funds in recent weeks may mean other funds will be forced to accept the market's deteriorating views on subprime mortgages and report their own losses soon."

"'The interesting thing is the varying stages of denial that the street finds itself in,' said a university endowment manager who asked that he not be named. Some, he said, are 'very willing to mark prices down and take the lumps.'"

"The ritual at hedge funds of placing a new value on securities held at month end, rather than daily, appears to worsen the blow to investors if prices have fallen over the period, said fund manager Jason Brady."

"'When investors redeem, the leverage unwind is awful,' he said. 'They redeem when they see their statement. That happens over the next week or so.'"