The Kane County Chronicle reports from Illinois. "Real-estate agent Rob Buhrow recently performed a market analysis on an Elgin property for a local bank, and every comparable home he turned up was a foreclosure property. 'I’m like, 'Oh my God,' Buhrow said. 'It makes you think – what’s really going on?'"

"Buhrow is not the only one asking that question. The numbers paint a jarring picture. In March 2007, for instance, the number of foreclosure filings in Kane County numbered 497. That is more than the total number of foreclosure lawsuits for the entire first three months of 2006 combined."

"Karla Sitko, manager at Avenue Mortgage’s St. Charles branch, said that when the housing boom was hot, many lenders rushed to grab a piece of the market, writing loans to consumers who couldn’t really afford them, Sitko said."

"'If they were doing it to keep up with the Joneses, they should not have had those loans,' Sitko said. 'And there were a lot of lenders who were writing these bad loans, and knew they were writing the bad loans, and just didn’t care.'"

"And as the market has turned, there might be no way out for some saddled with those bad loans, said Keith Wolf of Winfield Realty, who now markets foreclosed properties after a career in banking and finance."

"'Because of the housing boom, with prices appreciating, a lot of people in trouble could just refinance,' Wolf said. 'But now a lot of those people are back in foreclosure.'"

From Chicago Business in Illinois. "The depressed housing market has pushed the supply of vacant lots for new homes in the Chicago area to its highest level in about 15 years, according to a new report."

"Builders were sitting on 66,246 lots at the end of the second quarter, a 2.3% increase over the first quarter and a 14.0% jump from the year-ago period, according to Metrostudy, a Houston-based research firm that tracks the housing market. That represents a 34.3-month supply of lots, based on the current sales pace, the largest inventory since the early 1990s."

From BlueridgeNow in Illinois. "Plenty of companies are absorbing the ill effects of the yearlong slump in housing construction and sales. But few have felt it as forcefully or as suddenly as the USG Corporation, the nation’s largest maker of drywall, the paper-wrapped plaster boards used to build walls in homes and offices."

"USG, based here in Chicago, is in some ways a throwback to earlier times, when far larger swaths of the economy were unprotected against the brutal ups and downs of the business cycle."

"'Business is tough,' said William C. Foote, CEO of USG. 'The housing recession is entering the second year of what is likely to be a multiyear downturn.'"

The Lacross Tribune from Wisconsin. "Home foreclosures in La Crosse County this year are up by nearly a third over the pace in 2006, mirroring a statewide rise of nearly two-thirds."

"'It is an alarming trend, and banks have already admitted they’ve been too loosey-goosey with lending and they’ve pulled back considerably,' said Sheridan Glen, manager of the Capitol Corridor office of First Weber Realtors in Madison."

The Star Tribune from Minnesota. "The foreclosure problem in Minnesota last year was almost twice as bad as previously estimated. Based on sheriff's sales of foreclosed properties, there were 11,207 foreclosures statewide last year, nearly double the 5,995 previously reported in Minnesota by RealtyTrac."

"Warren Hanson, president of the Housing Fund, describes the situation as a 'natural disaster' akin to '10 Red River Valley floods hitting Minnesota all at one time.'"

CNN Money on Michigan. "Nouveau Riche offers real estate investment classes -and a host of related products and services - to would-be tycoons. The way the Michigan real estate market is headed, it might not be so easy."

"According to Judy Brant, a broker in Fenton for more than 20 years with Coldwell Banker, the inventory of homes in Genesee County, which includes Fenton, averaged 2,000 units in 2005. Today it is 8,000, up 300%."

"When Brant heard that Nouveau Riche students had bought 60 condo units in her town, sight unseen, she said, 'I'm speechless...prices are falling faster than you can imagine: 10% last year and another 10% this year. Who knows when it will reach rock bottom? As far as rental properties, it's hard to rent anything here now. Houses and apartments sit empty all over town.'"

The Springfield Business Journal from Missouri. "Upscale homes haven’t escaped a wave of foreclosures that’s flooding the Springfield housing market with a record amount of bank-owned real estate." "Foreclosures in Greene County are up 43 percent over last year through July 31, according to the Recorder of Deeds office." "Lenders are repossessing homes in some of the area’s most prestigious subdivisions. And in the exclusive gated community of Highland Springs, a recent streak of defaults prompted lenders to foreclose on some of the market’s priciest homes, two of which sold for more than $1 million in 2005, according to Greene County property records." "'We’re in a transition market, so it’s hard to judge foreclosures,' said Scott Rose, president of the Greater Springfield Board of Realtors. 'Unfortunately, it’s kind of that subprime story.'"

"Rose said the rising number of foreclosures in Greene County also may be a sign that area builders riding the real estate boom had too much new housing inventory when the market began cooling last year. "

"Springfield Realtor Peggy Mitchell, who specializes in foreclosure properties, thinks there’s a simpler explanation. 'When you’ve had a very strong economy where more people could get loans, you’re going to see more repos,' said Mitchell. 'It means you’ve had a great economy, and people that should have rented, bought. A certain number of people lose their homes.'"

"'That’s just the American way,' said Mitchell."