A report from the Arizona Republic. "The fallout from the country's real-estate slump continues to reverberate in Arizona and across the nation as more homeowners and lenders turn to foreclosure to solve their financial woes. New data released Monday show that foreclosure-related filings in Arizona jumped during the first half of 2007, compared with the same period a year ago."

"Experts say it will likely take time before things get better. 'By any calculation, things are going to look bad compared to 2004 and 2005,' local economist Elliott Pollack said. 'There will be a transition period over the next couple of years as those people who took loans that maybe they shouldn't have taken have to deal with the issue.'"

"Numbers released b RealtyTrac show that foreclosure-related filings in Arizona increased by 128 percent in the first half of 2007, over the same period a year ago. In Maricopa County, for example, there were 19,394 properties in some stage of foreclosure in the first half of the year, up from 7,671 during the year-ago period, the company said."

"Data from Glendale-based Information Market are different but reflect the same upward trend. That firm shows that 2,952 homes were foreclosed on in Maricopa County from January through June, up from 208 during the first half of 2006."

"'They are at an all-time high, but it's also following a period of very high sales back in 2005,' said Tom Ruff, a principal with Information Market. 'I just look at it as a market correction, myself.'"

"While most experts agree the rising number of foreclosures signals a return to normalcy both locally and nationally, it still can have a very negative impact on neighborhoods."

"'If you go into a neighborhood and there's a lot of foreclosed properties, they're empty, you don't know who's going to buy them, they're probably not being maintained at the moment,' said Jay Butler, director of realty studies at Arizona State University."

"Home building in metropolitan Phoenix continues to stumble, with permits dropping 23 percent from last year. But it's not all bad news. We remain among the nation's leading housing markets."

"Valley housing analyst RL Brown said the traditionally strong Phoenix market retains potential even though builders have suffered some damage. 'If you're a home builder, you want to be where the action is,' he said."

The Review Journal from Nevada. "Apartment landlords are not able to raise rents in Las Vegas as much as they have in the past, partly because of increased competition from single-family homes, a multifamily broker said Monday."

"Concessions such as one month of free rent and move-in discounts are going up and overall rents are staying flat, Spence Ballif of CB Richard Ellis said. He estimated 11,000 homes in Las Vegas that are not owner-occupied. Many of them are being offered for rent because they're not selling."

"'What we're experiencing is the amount of single-family homes being rented is giving us short-term supply,' Ballif said."

"Previous annual rent growth leaders such as Phoenix, Las Vegas and Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif., continued to slide, Chris Bates of RealFacts said. With a quarterly increase of 0.3 percent, Las Vegas will see an annual rent growth increase of 1.2 percent, dramatically lower than last year's 5.4 percent annual growth rate, he noted."

"'I think it's going to slow even more, particularly with decreasing occupancy,' Bates said. 'The other thing I've heard in pockets of California is all of these single-family homes are built and not sold, but they're being rented.'"

"'With Nevada having the highest foreclosure rate in the country for single-family homes and condos, we have seen the vacancy rate increase. This is surprising, but it seems the people being foreclosed on are moving into rental homes or upper-end apartments,' said Carl Sims of Hendricks & Partners."

"Also, with home prices on the decline, some renters are now starting to buy foreclosed homes, he added."