The Rocky Mountain News reports from Colorado. "Vacancy rates for rental homes are the lowest in recent memory, thanks to record foreclosures in the Denver area, officials said Wednesday. In many cases, however, people are renting houses they can't sell for a profit for less than their mortgage payment, said Robert Alldredge, owner of Jericho Properties, which manages properties."

"'People tell me this is their monthly mortgage payment, so they have to get at least this amount in rent, but I tell them it doesn't work that way,' Alldredge said."

"It is better, he said, to lose $100 or $200 a month by renting a house, than to carry the entire mortgage payment. 'It's the difference between bleeding to death slowly, and hoping the market will turn around, and bleeding to death quickly,' Alldredge said."

From KOAA.com in Colorado. "As we've reported for months now, El Paso and Pueblo counties have run up some disturbing numbers when it comes to folks facing foreclosure or who have lost their homes. One local mortgage expert says the move may not help."

"Mortgage Broker, Rebecca Hinds says, 'El Paso County has serious foreclosure problem, Pueblo as well. Pueblo has one in 10 homes in foreclosure currently.'"

"So far in El Paso County this year, 3000 homes have gone into foreclosure. In all of 2006, there were about 3400 homes."

"Hinds says; 'Considering we are on the upslope of the adjustable rate mortgages getting ready to adjust. And we are already seeing the problem we're having, this problem will only increase.'"

The Arizona Republic. "Foreclosures in metropolitan Phoenix climbed 36 percent in August, the biggest jump so far this year. Last month, 1,093 people lost their homes, according to the Information Market. It's the first time Valley foreclosures have topped 1,000 in at least a decade."

"Many more local residents are in danger of losing their homes. Notice of trustee sale filings, the precursor to a foreclosure, took their biggest jump this year. Those notices, filed when homeowners are at least a month behind, climbed 29 percent, to 3,203, in August."

"It is hard to argue that the north Phoenix area has had a lot of foreclosures, but the number of them has, in some areas, gone up by factors of 10 or more."

"Foreclosures are up and prices are down throughout the area. The numbers are closely tied, along with the number of sales and number of homes on the market."

"Andrew Holm, a Realtor who works in northeast Phoenix and Scottsdale, says that with the record numbers of homes currently for sale, pressure still is on to reduce prices. Some homeowners are forced to walk away from their loans, he said."

Frm KTAR.com in Arizona. "A budget shortfall is another side effect of mortgage mayhem and Governor Janet Napolitano says education money must be protected if Arizona is ever to escape the boom-and-bust cycles of the housing market."

"'We're still too housing economy dependent. That's why our economy has reacted so quickly to the sub-prime issue, to the housing bubble and all the rest,' she said."

"Senator Thayer Verschoor says he's happy the governor has acknowledged there's a serious problem. 'From what it appears to me is that they recognize that it's a bigger problem than they were thinking it was originally.'"

The Review Journal from Nevada. "Some major lenders have said they may stop or have already stopped making 'stated income' loans because of the wording in Assembly Bill 440, which is intended to ensure that a borrower is able to repay a loan."

"'Stated income' loans account for a quarter of all home loans in the state, and about half of the loans in the Las Vegas area, according to state officials and the Nevada Association of Mortgage Professionals."

"Marcie Benvin, a Reno mortgage broker and president of the Nevada Association of Mortgage Professionals, said she hopes the efforts work because 'we don't have a lot of time left.'"

"'People need to understand the gravity of the situation,' Benvin said. 'We're hoping that the problem gets resolved before it turns into a bigger problem.'"

"The news is bad, but it's not all bad, said Las Vegas housing analyst Dennis Smith."

"'Yeah, people are out of work, people are going to lose their homes. But it's going to turn around,' the president of Home Builders Research said. 'I hope we'll be talking about this as an educational experience two or three years from now.'"

"Home Builders Research reported 1,970 new home sales in August, a 39.9 percent decrease from the same month a year ago. Sales are down 43.6 percent for the year."

"The median new home price rose 4 percent to $338,560, largely because of mid-rise and high-rise condos. The resale segment barely outperformed new homes, with 2,062 recorded escrow closings, down 43.4 percent from August 2006. The median price fell to $275,000 from $289,000 a year ago, or about 5 percent."

"'Just to remind these greedy (people) about the price drop, it's all relative,' Smith said. 'It's only dropped from last year and it's higher than two years ago. It's not that bad. It's just bad today.'"

"The Las Vegas housing market experienced the lowest number of foreclosures this year in August, real estate consultant Steve Bottfeld of Marketing Solutions said. The 212 figure was nearly 500 less than July."

"'While that is cause for some optimism, it is too early to suggest that the foreclosure rate is slowing,' Bottfeld said."

"He urged caution in analyzing foreclosure numbers because existing home inventory has reached a record 27,321 and 46 percent of those units are vacant. The Mortgage Bankers Association estimated that investors defaulted on roughly one-third of Las Vegas properties in foreclosure."

"Smith said the local housing market needs consistency and it has to start in the lending business. Over time, foreclosures should become a nonfactor. But first, lenders have to be willing to discount foreclosed properties more than they have, he said."

"Meritage Homes recently lowered prices in some subdivisions by more than $50,000, Smith reported. KB Home is selling a 1,553-square-foot home for $174,990, or $112 a square foot, and a 1,898-square-foot home for $202,990, or $107 a square foot. Rhodes Homes is selling at $125 to $130 a square foot."

"These prices seem to be 'setting the bottom' of the value ratios for some of the major home builders in Las Vegas, Smith said." "Robin Camacho of Direct Access Lending in Las Vegas said lenders are pulling the plug on stated income loans. It's spreading in large part due to Assembly Bill 440 in the Legislature, she said."

"'Some people with homes in escrow right now will see their mortgage commitments disappear if they can't close quickly. This is really going to hit our tip earners in Las Vegas the hardest. Everyone knows their income isn't easy to verify,' Camacho said."