The Times Herald Record reports from New York. "The Route 17 billboard in Orange County promised a new era for the region: 'Drive 20 Minutes, Save $50,000,' blared the sign for the new development of homes in the Sullivan County hamlet of Hurleyville. This was America's largest home builder, D.R. Horton, betting on our region with its first project in New York state."

"It planned to build 111 homes aimed at a new market: families 'priced out' of more expensive areas like Orange County. Nearly two years later, only 15 homes have been built including a few models. Two owners say they bought their model homes, furniture included, at reduced prices: $319,000 for a $355,000 home; $400,000 for one listed at $435,000."

"They also got a couple of extras they didn't bargain for: a huge common backyard of about 60 acres of cleared land, and a neighborhood so quiet you can hear a sprinkler spritzing new grass."

"Why has America's largest builder gone bust in Hurleyville? In this county where the median home price was $165,000 when the development went on sale, the answer is obvious."

"'The price was just too high, and the $250,000 to $450,000 range took such a beating last year,' said Realtor James DiNapoli in Rock Hill, president-elect of the Sullivan County Board of Realtors."

"Five of the seven largest builders in the country are building in the mid-Hudson. They arrived here at the height of the housing boom and Orange County's population explosion. Today, the housing market has gone from brisk to just plain cold."

"'It's like the entire country got the same e-mail — don't buy now, prices will come down in six months,' said John Caulfield, senior editor of Builder Magazine."

"Lennar plans to build 143 estate-style homes in developments in Newburgh and Monroe, with prices starting in the $700,000s. That translates to roughly a two-year supply of high-end homes for all of Orange County."

"Big builders do whatever they have to do to move homes. They have no choice. 'You've got divisions and regions that you have to report to, and at the end of the quarter, they're going to look at your numbers,' said Jean Rowe, executive director of the Builders Association of the Hudson Valley."

"The big builders' only reason for existence is to construct new homes. 'The paradox is that they can't stop building entirely,' said Caulfield. 'You have an overabundance of inventory you can't sell, but you are also building more product.'"

The Patriot News from Pennsylvania. "The entry of national players into the midstate market has 'absolutely' driven up the price of land here for all builders, said Mark DeSouza, senior VP of a Bala Cynwyd firm that has developed property in the midstate since 1969."

"'The nationals have larger resources and deeper pockets, and that enables them to pay more for a parcel of ground,' DeSouza said."

"The onrush of national builders 'did inflate the price and made local developers pay more than what they thought they could support,' said Neil Barr, a real estate agent in Hampden Twp. 'Now, sellers have this perception that their land is worth that amount, even though it didn't close. It's hard for them to adjust back to a more reasonable level.'"

"National home builders such as K. Hovnanian and Toll Brothers entered the midstate market in 2005 at the peak of the housing boom."

"Now that the national housing market has cooled, these builders are trying to reduce the glut of homes everywhere. In the midstate, multiple examples can be found of national builders looking to renegotiate existing land deals or abandoning development proposals."

"While the cost-cutting moves of the national builders appear to have slowed the pace of midstate development, new houses are still being built. In several cases, long-established local and regional builders are stepping in to handle projects abandoned by the big players."

"In Silver Spring Twp., K. Hovnanian is renegotiating its agreement with midstate developer Triple Crown Corp. to purchase more of the 55 planned lots in the Bella Vista subdivision. K. Hovnanian hopes to acquire an undetermined number of the remaining 27 lots at a reduced price, said Doug Fenichel, spokesman for the builder."

"K. Hovnanian had acquired the first 28 lots at Bella Vista, and 15 houses have sold, Fenichel said. In recent weeks, the company has advertised price reductions of up to $60,000 on new houses in the development."

"'It's an extremely competitive market. The market has caused everybody to lower prices,' Fenichel said."

"'We walked away from deals over the last two years with landowners for prices that we thought were exorbitant,' said John DiSanto, president of Triple Crown. He said midstate landowners who haven't been able to sell their properties now want to make deals."

The Washington Post. "Home buyers again need their own money to close a deal. Lenders faced with growing piles of bad loans, even to borrowers once considered good credit risks, have clamped down on the no-money-down mortgage. The abrupt shift threatens to dash the hopes of millions of potential buyers."

"'No-down-payment loans are just about near impossible to get right now,' said Jennifer Bridges, a real estate agent in Woodbridge. 'We'll have someone all lined up and then without warning, the lender will say: 'It's gone.' It's terribly depressing.'"

"National City Home Equity, one of the nation's big home lenders, stopped funding some types of zero-down loans this month, said Ken Carter, the division's executive VP. 'When home prices were appreciating and interest rates were declining, that product made sense,' Carter said. 'Today, we're on the opposite side of that coin, and it's not prudent to be stretching.'"

"'It used to be that we would finance a loan up to $1 million with no down payment for a first-time home buyer,' said Daniel H. Aminoff, a senior loan consultant in Alexandria. 'But as of March, we will only finance a loan of $417,000 with no down payment.'"

"Many years ago, a 20 percent down payment for a home was the norm. But as prices escalated, fewer people could afford that. After all, 20 percent of $500,000, the cost of a middle-class suburban house in the Washington area, is $100,000."

"No-down-payment mortgages came into play about a decade ago, at first for wealthy borrowers with stellar credit. The idea was to give those borrowers loans that allowed them to buy houses without having to liquidate other investments, said Sean O'Boyle, a VP at SunTrust Mortgage in Chevy Chase."

"'But the model deteriorated, and it became available to just about anybody in recent years,' he said."

"In part, that was because lenders assumed that as long as home prices kept climbing, borrowers who could not afford future mortgage payments could sell or refinance. But once home prices dropped in many parts of the country, that option evaporated. Delinquencies and foreclosures surged. With urging from federal regulators, lenders tightened their policies."

The Daily Press from Virginia. "Mortgage banker Michael Mapes has approved loans for about 17 clients who have a new home they want to get into, but they can't sell their own homes."

"Inventory has built up substantially over the past few years and it is taking much longer to sell a house. Sales are still strong at lower sales prices and in select markets, such as the city of Williamsburg, but the high inventory and prices can't co-exist much longer."

"'The inventory's been built up because sellers are so doggone stubborn,' said Mapes. 'A lot of sellers are stuck in 2005.'"

"Brian Mullins, president of the Peninsula Housing and Builders Association, said he doesn't expect a sellers market for about another year. A slower market in 2007 hasn't kept people from listing their homes or builders from feeding the market on the Peninsula, where new listings of existing homes were still up 14 percent from the year before. The number of newly constructed homes for sale was 29 percent higher."

"'That hurts us,' said Mullins. 'We just need to hold on and build smart.'"

"The builders need the mid- to higher-priced existing home sales to pick up, so those owners can move into expensive new construction. 'We need to get that market moving first before we can get momentum at the upper end again,' said Mullins."

"During the hot market of recent years, sellers didn't accept as many contingent offers, but it also didn't matter much if they did. 'They didn't worry about it because they knew they would sell their house,' said Natalie Miller-Moore, marketing director for Wayne Harbin Builder."

"With more competition to attract buyers, contingencies are more problematic. A deal killed when someone can't sell their own home can also trigger a loss of multiple sales. 'That creates a domino effect,' said Mapes. 'If one falls, they all fall.'"

"Sellers are sweetening the sale by offering concessions such as home warranties, closing costs and mortgage payments. Wayne Harbin was offering a furniture allowance, but buyers preferred to take cash to offset closing costs. 'People are very price driven now,' said Miller-Moore."