What do you see in your housing market this weekend? Lower median prices? "Median real estate prices in Nevada County dropped more than 9 percent to $425,000 in July compared to a year earlier, a real-estate tracking company confirmed today. 'Things just aren’t worth as much as they used to be,' said Realtor Teresa Dietrich-Treco."

"Year-to-year median prices for July also declined in the counties of Placer (8.5 percent), Sacramento (10 percent) and Yuba (nearly 14 percent), DataQuick reported."

"Housing prices in Monterey County stayed healthy in the swanky areas while some mid-range housing areas saw a dip in price, according to figures for July 2007 from the Monterey County Association of Realtors."

"The median sales price in south Salinas dipped to $540,000, compared with $609,000 a year ago; the median price in north Salinas fell to $520,000 from a median of $585,000 a year ago. The median sale price in South County fell to $385,000 from $517,000 a year ago."

Lender activity? "Washington Mutual has put its downtown Stockton building up for sale. The 247,000-square-foot building has no price tag. The company is asking anyone interested in purchasing the building to make an offer."

"The Seattle-based company said the move to try to sell the property isn't a reflection of the decline in the residential real-estate market, or on downtown Stockton. 'We're going to have a lot of vacancy,' said broker Mahala Burns. 'All of a sudden, we'll have all this square footage available, no real parking and no tenants, so everyone is nervous and on edge at the moment.'"

Or foreclosures? "A lot of homeowners are feeling the squeeze. So far this year, there have been more than 5,000 foreclosures in the Chicago area. A two bedroom, $400,000 condo in downtown Chicago is just one of nearly 200 foreclosed properties owned by banks that the company will sell in a live auction."

"There's another condo in Hyde Park for $150,000 and a single family, five-bedroom home in Lincoln Park for $800.000. All are expected to sell for 30 to 40 percent below market value. 'Banks are not into retail. They want these properties off their books, [so they are] willing to take less than retail to move them,' said auctioneer Pat Harvill."

"But keep in mind that the properties are sold 'as is.'"

New marketing techniques? "The sign spinners of a national advertising company can be found nearly every weekend along the streets of Ahwatukee Foothills, twirling their 6-foot signs in the air to promote new housing subdivisions."

"'Basically when you start working for us, you don’t look at it as a job – it is a sport,' said Phoenix General Manager Bryan Sanchez. 'Everybody is looking at you because you are the center of attention.'"

Rising inventory? "Home sales and building are down in metropolitan Phoenix, but there are other indicators to track where the housing market is headed. Home listings in the Valley climbed to almost 55,000 during the past few weeks. That's a new high."

"About 85 percent of the Valley homes foreclosed on in July went back to the lender, according to the Information Market. That means fewer investors bidding on foreclosure properties on the courthouse steps. In many cases, more is owed on the home than what it's worth now."

"New-home prices in metro Phoenix fell an average of 6 percent this year, according to Phoenix-based Belfiore Real Estate Consulting. The firm says new-home prices have dropped 21 percent in the past 18 months."

"Recently, West Valley cities saw the biggest decline in new-home prices. Avondale's cost for a new house fell 11.9 percent, and in north Buckeye, prices are down 9 percent."

Signs of the credit crunch? "In Laguna Niguel, Bill Ashmore, the Impac Mortgage president, remarked on how the credit problems stemming from sub-prime loans had filtered down to a local bank branch."

"'It started out with this global credit crunch we've been reading about,' he said as another Countrywide depositor left the bank's office. 'It's now gotten down to affecting people like him and me who are closing our accounts.'"

"The other depositor shook his head as he climbed into his car. 'It's all over,' he said, and drove away."