Chicago Business reports from Illinois. "Home sales in the Chicago area plunged 20.1%, according to the Illinois Assn. of Realtors, the 17th straight monthly decline. Statewide, sales dropped 17.9% to 14,349 homes. Separately, a gauge of home prices in the Chicago-area declined from a year ago. Home values in the Chicago region fell 0.9% in the 12 months through July, based on Standard & Poor’s/Case-Schiller Home Price Index."

The Chicago Tribune. "Locally, the wincing was even more pronounced: The Illinois Association of Realtors said Chicago-area home sales, year over year, were down more than 20 percent."

"'While buyers with good credit have options' for financing, said Illinois Association President Kay Wirth, 'the credit crunch combined with more hesitant buyers waiting out all the mixed messages on the housing market took a toll on sales in August.'"

The News Democrat. "Metro-east home builders are dealing with an overabundance of homes as mortgage defaults have hurt the market, but home inventories are even higher elsewhere."

"Statistics from the National Association of Home Builders in Washington, D.C., show that the greater St. Louis metropolitan area witnessed a 19 percent decrease in new single-family housing starts between the first six months of the year and the same period in 2006."

"In that span, that number was higher in other Midwestern metropolitan areas. The greater Chicago metropolitan area witnessed a 34 percent drop, a 28 percent decline was reported in Indianapolis and a 30 percent drop in Kansas City."

"Statistically, housing starts in St. Clair County have declined in the last two years and dropped over the last three years in Madison and Monroe counties. According to Market Graphics, the highest monthly number of housing starts this year in St. Clair County was 115 in May. In comparison, the county had a monthly high of 175 in August 2005."

"Madison County had 168 housing starts in May 2004, but hasn't exceeded 100 this year."

"Monroe County witnessed 44 and then 35 housing starts in April 2004 and April 2005, respectively, but hasn't seen more than 27 in a month this year."

"Taylor-Morley Homes, of Creve Coeur, Mo., has built its share of subdivisions in the metro-east, but has recently decided to scale back its projects and has laid off 40 percent of its staff over the past 12 months. CEO Bill Taylor said the company has had to downsize in response to the shifting market."

"'Taylor-Morley is working through this downturn,' Taylor said. 'The only thing that will change is we will be a different-sized company and may be building 150 to 200 homes, instead of 300 or 400 homes, a year.'"

"'We had a good run for several years, from 2001 to early 2005,' he said. 'But in 2004 and 2005, we overbuilt, and in 2006, we saw demand slacked, and it become very clear that we had excess supply. What we're dealing with now is there are more homeowners out there looking for more homes than there are buyers at the moment.'"

The Joplin Globe from Missouri. "Joplin’s housing market has been largely insulated from the highs and lows of the national market, but that may be changing, said Ed August, a Realtor (in)Joplin. Lately, August said, local housing signs aren’t good. Home foreclosures are up, banks are getting cautious, and the growth rate of a home’s value has slowed."

"'As our economy becomes more diversified, and more people are living in a smaller area, we are becoming like other areas, and we’re not as well insulated from the dips and spikes,' he said."

"August also finds some local trends disturbing. According to data from the local Board of Realtors MLS, new-home sales through August 2007 lagged behind the previous year’s by 22 percent and were down 41 percent from the figure for 2005."

"Sales of existing homes are doing better, August said, with the number of sales for the first half of 2007 coming in close to the total for the year before. But he said those numbers are still 21 percent below the 2005 sales figures."

"August said his office also is seeing more foreclosures in the Joplin area, and banks are being more careful about lending, so fewer people are in the position to buy homes."

"'Last year, if you had a couple of dings in your credit, you could still walk into a bank and get a 100 percent loan; that’s hard now,' he said."

The Star Tribune from Minnesota. "The number of homeowners who are carrying the riskiest type of mortgages more than doubled over the past three years in the Twin Cities area."

"The increases weren't just in low-income communities. The percentage of subprime mortgages grew rapidly in wealthier areas, too. Overall, subprime first and second mortgages rose from 11 percent in 2004 to 26 percent last year, according to the Federal Home Mortgage Disclosure Act. That jump means the foreclosure crisis likely won't end anytime soon."

"The data suggest 'that people are certainly stretching to afford houses in those areas,' said Michael Grover, community affairs project director for the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis."

"In Carver County, one of the wealthiest counties in the metro area, the number of homes purchased with a subprime mortgage increased from 7 percent in 2004 to 17 percent in 2006. Even though Carver County had the lowest percentage among the 11 counties in 2006, it was a shocking number considering the suburb's relative wealth."

"'It makes me more pessimistic,' said Prentiss Cox, a University of Minnesota professor and former assistant attorney general who has been tracking the foreclosure problem. 'That makes me think that the foreclosure problem is going to continue to be more geographically dispersed.'"

"'I'm ... very concerned about the impact that foreclosures have on the broader community,' said Julie Gugin, executive director of the Minnesota Home Ownership Center. 'We'll continue to deal with this foreclosure crisis for several years to come.'"

The Detroit Free Press from Michigan. "The number of home foreclosures in Wayne County has caused a flood of complaints from residents about high grass at vacant homes and forced some communities to contract with landscape companies to keep the lawns cut."

"'It's a new problem to Canton,' said Tim Faas, director of Canton Municipal Services. 'It affects property values.'"

"In Garden City, Jack Barnes, director of the Department of Public Services, said that up through May alone, they had 125 complaints about tall grass. For all of 2006, they only had 70, he said."

"In Westland, officials were forced to take action because of numerous complaints. Kevin Buford, Westland director of public services, said there were 304 complaints so far this year. Normally, there are 50 to 75 complaints for the whole year, he said."

"'This spring that was the No. 1 grievance being called into the mayor's office,' said Westland Deputy Mayor Courtney Conover."

The Cresent News from Ohio. "Just over 300 houses are for sale in Defiance County, a number that is higher than average, making real estate in northwest Ohio a buyer's market. However, sellers are still keeping their eye on the bottom dollar and many are not allowing buyers to 'steal' their properties."

"Despite the national news that housing markets are crashing and prices are dropping faster than flies, numerous local realtors have said that the market in northwest Ohio is holding steady."

"'Defiance has always been different than the national average,' said A.J. Minton of Sam Switzer Realty."

"The increase in foreclosures in the past few years has had the market feeling a bit volatile. In 2006, the Defiance County Sheriff's Office had 122 foreclosure, or sheriff's auction sales, averaging 10.2 a month. So far this year, there have been 103 sheriff's auctions, averaging 11.5 a month. 'All in all, the market is not as strong,' said Defiance broke Brent Joost."

"Personally, Joost said he believes more homes are on the market because 'the banks and mortgage companies are making it too easy to get a loan. I see so many people who borrow 100 percent. Then, if they get behind (on their mortgage payment a month or two), they just walk away from the house.'"

"With about 60 more homes for sale than the average, Joost said the market has shifted to a buyer's market, however, he warned: 'Buyers are not able to steal properties.'"

"'People try to offer (sellers) 20 percent less,' Joost said, thinking that with the number of homes on the market the buyer can dominate a sale. Instead, Joost said the seller will simply reject the offer."

"'Often times, the seller still needs their equity to buy something else, so they're just patient and wait for a good offer,' he said."