The Houston Chronicle reports from Texas. "Looking for cheap land? Good luck. 'Land values have doubled in about a 2 1/2 -year period in better areas in Houston,' said Jim Hurd of Houston Income Properties. While the low end of the housing market slumps, Houston's ultrarich are shelling out more for homes than they did last year. So what's keeping the Inner Loop so strong? 'To people from New York and California, we look like a bargain,' agent Cathy Blum said."

The Facts from Texas. "A steady stream of homebuyers is coming to Brazoria County, defying the tumbling market of new and existing home sales nationwide."

"'About 10 percent of the market in Texas accounted for those investors, but that chunk of the market is gone now,' said said Jim Gaines, research economist at Texas A&M University. 'The difference is Texas never had the big price boom, so after those investors have gone, we have just returned to the long-term norm, which is a fairly decent climb.'"

"Investors see cheap land in many growing areas, but prices have started to increase."

"'Those small beach lots at Surfside Beach, four years ago you could buy a lot for $3,000 to $4,000, that’s real cheap,' said Harold Cox, manager of Coldwell Banker in Lake Jackson. 'Now they’ve started selling by the square foot, at around $2 per square foot. I don’t know if what’s going on is good for everyone, but it sure is good for the real estate business.'"

The Express News. "Last year's fickle real estate investors continue to leave a sour aftertaste in San Antonio's new-home market."

"Builders started 27 percent fewer homes in the second quarter compared to the same period in 2006. And more than 3,100 vacant new homes were on the market at the end of June. That's 1,132 more homes than last summer."

"Some of those investors had been trying to replicate a speculative scheme that had worked so well in cities on the East and West coasts before those markets turned south. But San Antonio home prices appreciated only moderately. So when it came time to close, and the prices hadn't soared, many investors walked. All this happened at the tail end of 2006, and San Antonio still is feeling the effects."

"'You had this momentum building with local buyers, and it was artificially stimulated by speculative investors,' said Jack Inselmann, VP of Metrostudy's U.S. Central Division. 'It's still some good numbers. But a decline is not as fun and easy as a market that is growing.'"

From KXAN.com. "For the last two years, Austin has had one of the hottest housing markets in the country, but analysts say that is changing. One of the hottest parts about the Austin housing market has been the rise in condominiums, and there are 100 additional construction projects slated to take place."

"Right now, 1,200 units are under construction, but analysts from Residential Strategies report that the Austin market can only absorb about 550 units per year. Pricing for these condos are matching those found in places like Miami and Chicago."

"'Am I concerned? Let me just say, that we'll keep an eye on it. There's no doubt in my mind, there's just so much that could come on the market. If they all came on the market, there could be 7,500 units,' said Mark Sprague with Residential Strategies."

"Sprague said that it is 'plateauing.' 'If we hadn't had that surge this time last year, we wouldn't be going 'Oh the market, what's happening to the market?,' said Sprague."

"Some call it the trickle-down effect from California. That's where homeowners were selling and getting record profits, and in turn are buying in Texas. 'Those buyers are not as aggressively purchasing anymore,' said Sprague."

"'Is it now the time to sell your house?' said Sprague, 'If you can hold your house, I would sit on your house for a couple of years...Now is always time to buy, because as you know, values never get any cheaper.'"

The Dallas Morning News. "While the overall home sales market has seen a dip this year, sales at the top end are booming. The more than 500 buyers of million-dollar homes in North Texas during the first half of 2007 weren't concerned about the current shakeout in the subprime mortgage market."

"'I think we are seeing a significant impact in the Dallas area from the boom in the energy business,' said agent Dave Perry-Miller."

"While the number of million-dollar plus home sales in the Dallas-Fort Worth area has tripled in the last five years, the inventory of these houses on the market is also higher. At the end of June, 1,332 million-dollar houses were up for sale, about 35 percent more than a year earlier, according to the North Texas Real Estate Information System. Even so, that's only about a 16-month supply."

From KVUE.com. "Imagine a huge neighborhood with 1,600 houses. Now imagine every one of those houses empty. That's how many homes are posted for foreclosure in Dallas County."

"Edward Hoffman of DeSoto knows of seven foreclosures on his block alone. There are 125 posted in DeSoto for August. 'If you have a bunch of foreclosures... If you have a house that's worth $400,000, and then you have a bunch of foreclosures, it can drop about 50 percent easy,' he said."

"Just three years ago were the good old days in Dallas County."

"Cedar Hill, DeSoto, Duncanville, Garland, Irving, Lancaster and Mesquite had more than 560 foreclosures among them for August of 2004. While that was bad, the Foreclosure Listing Service now says the numbers are much worse. This August, there were 862 foreclosure postings in the same cities. That's an increase of 65 percent."

From WFAA.com. "The slump in the housing market has been evident for a while now. Just look at Collin County, where there are too many homes and not enough buyers."

"Many sellers say they long for the good old days, which weren't really that long ago. It's been just two years since buyers got their asking price and the market was red hot."

"The Bensen family’s nicely-decorated home on Allen’s Twin Creek Drive has been on the market for 11 months. 'This is the fourth home we have owned, and this is the third home we have owned in the last 13-14 years, so this is quite a shock to us,' Angela Bensen said."

"The family has reduced their asking price by $25,000 and followed all their Realtor's suggestions to increase curb appeal." "In July 2005, in four of Collin County’s biggest cities, 1,304 homes were sold. The total dropped to 1,130 in July of last year. Last month, the figure dropped to 858 homes sold."

"Compounding the problem, the inventory of available homes is increasing. Last July, there were four months' worth of homes on the market. That figure has more than doubled to 8.2 months."

"'I think it’s a correction,' said Marvin Jolly, a Frisco Realtor. '2005 was the biggest year on record, so this is just a matter of correcting. And its not a panic at all.'"

"Sellers say Collin County’s rush to build thousands of new homes has hurt them trying to sell their established homes. 'There’s just too much, too much inventory,' Bensen said."

"And now there’s another issue complicating things for sellers. There are hundreds of homes in Collin County that are either up for lease or in foreclosure. In one Collin County neighborhood, we found 16 homes for sale and 14 were empty."

"Almost five years into a still-reverberating energy boom, the mood of the well-heeled dinner set at the Midland Petroleum Club last week was as buoyant as the price of crude."

"The oil and gas play in the region, stretching from Big Spring in the east, west to Hobbs, N.M., and south past Fort Stockton, has been hopping in recent years after almost two decades of relative calm."

"'When I first came six years ago, you could have shot a cannon in here and not hit anyone,' said club manager Brad Miller as he surveyed the packed dining room. 'Now, on a Friday or Saturday night you can't get in.'"

"The consensus here among the bust-scarred oil patch survivors is quietly bullish for the long term."

"'It's definitely a boom again, and I think in five years the price will be about the same. We'll see prices of $60 to $70 a barrel, but I think it will also go well above $80,' said Will Green, the recently elected president of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists."

"'The last boom was reckless abandon. There was no end to where the price of oil would go. Now people are a little more cautious,' he said."

"'We currently have 34 new residential subdivisions being built. If it all comes to fruition, that will be 2,000 homes,' said Odessa Mayor Larry Melton."

"Like many others out here, Henry thinks the current strong energy market is here to stay, in part because of fundamental changes in the world economy."

"'The boom in the '80s was caused by the Saudi Arabians and other countries cutting back production, whereas this one is caused by supply and demand finally reaching each other,' he said."

"The bust that followed wrecked the Texas economy, contributed to the nation's savings and loan collapse and drove most major oil players out of the Permian Basin."

"This time, things feel different, Henry said."

"'There is a sense of permanency, a feeling this is not a boom, but that it will be a sustained thing. We don't fear prices will drop like they did in the past,' he said. 'The only thing that could change this is a world recession or some kind of worldwide catastrophe.'"