The Wilmington Star reports from North Carolina. "The tightened home lending standards are having an impact on the local real estate market. 'You 'have to really make sure you're pricing properly,' said Pete Frandano, principal at Southport Realty. 'Sellers need to lower their expectations from two years ago,' Frandano said, pointing out that we're in a cycle where the market heavily favors the buyer."

"In New Hanover County, a nominal number of closings have fallen through because of mortgage problems, said broker Lenora Norris. But she sees a pent-up demand for homes here, despite the sizable inventory of homes for sale."

"'California is a big market for us. They're paying cash,' Norris said. 'That type of client has helped us to maintain our property values.'"

"'The easy money has gone away,' said Chris Hutchens, a loan officer in Wilmington. 'Two years ago anybody could have gotten a 100 percent loan on a second home or investment property. Most could get 95 percent to 100 percent (mortgages) on stated income.'"

"'Appraisals are being looked at carefully and cautiously, especially in high loan-to-value loans,' or those with low down payments, Hutchens said."

"Among other potential homeowners most affected by tighter lending standards are the self-employed. Stated-income were an answer. The self-employed can still get a mortgage, but 'you will be asked for more down or more documentation,' Hutchens said. 'And just signing your name will be a thing of the past.'"

The Journal Now from North Carolina. "Don Jud, an emeritus professor of economics at UNC Greensboro, is not surprised by the price slowdown in Winston-Salem. The main culprit, he reckons, is that there are too many homes being built to meet immediate demand."

"'No question, the market is slowing,' he said. 'It’s too much inventory.' Builders, he said, were simply too optimistic and 'overextended.'"

The Sun News from South Carolina. "Prices for oceanfront condominiums along the Grand Strand have been on a roller coaster in recent years, and have now plunged to levels seen three years ago before the condo boom."

"'We're exactly where we were three years ago. If we're not there, we're really darn close. It's like we erased the spike,' said Mark Loomis, a real estate agent who specializes in oceanfront condos."

"Case in point: Camelot by the Sea, a themed 230-unit condo tower that opened in 2001 in Myrtle Beach, sold a one bedroom unit in January 2005 for $209,900. The sales topped out at $345,000 six months later. In June, one sold for $176,000 - lower than the 2005 price."

"Loomis said he sold a condo at $169,900 in August of 2004...that closed in March 2005. That summer, he had a buyer who wanted to purchase his client's unit for $260,000. They passed up the offer. A year later, the same condo had an offer of $200,000. His clients said that was way too low and passed again."

"Now, the condo is listed for $157,900, $12,000 less than what the client bought it for initially. That condo took only 10 days to go under contract for the low $157,900 price, which proves that buyers are out there, Loomis said."

"The fall in prices turned a potential $90,100 profit if the client had sold in 2005 into a $12,000 loss."

"The tide of the condo boom turned so quickly few saw it coming. 'It's like an instant brick wall on the roadrunner show and there's no skid marks,' Loomis said."

"Loomis said that basic economics dictates that prices may still have room to fall because inventory is still slowly rising."

From Online Athens in Georgia. "Athens residents and officials were aghast when they saw plans for a proposed 264-acre, 425-house subdivision on rural Newton Bridge Road."

"'This one scares me to death,' north Athens resident Jim Spencer said. Athens-Clarke planning commissioner Karen Middendorf agreed at a meeting Thursday night. 'To put this thing in that area is just a very, very bad idea,' Middendorf said."

"At least a half-dozen suburban subdivisions of more than 100 single-family homes are coming down in the pipe in Athens. And that's not even counting already-approved developments like Oak Grove on Jefferson Road or Creekside on Atlanta Highway, urban infill houses, student apartments or Gameday-style downtown condominiums."

"If built, the six subdivisions recently approved or currently under review by planners would add about 2,000 houses to a county that already has a surplus of almost 4,000 residential units, according to the Athens-Clarke Planning Department. At the current pace of development, that surplus will grow to almost 14,000 units in 2020."

"Despite the recent downturn in the housing market, houses just keep on coming in Clarke County and the surrounding region. And county officials are at a loss about how to rebalance the market and ramp down development to match Athens' modest 1.3 percent annual population growth."

"'All I know for sure is, in my opinion, we don't need to be approving houses when we have 900-plus houses on the market,' said Athens-Clarke Commissioner Doug Lowry, a real estate agent. 'We are way overbuilt in Athens.'"

"Athens real estate broker Michelle DeRepentigny and David Hamilton, co-chairman of a committee that's dealing with housing for Athens-Clarke's new 10-year comprehensive plan, laid overbuilding at the feet of developers who 'flip' or sell properties to other developers and take out new construction loans to stay afloat in hopes that the market rebounds."

"'They just have to keep going and keep going and keep going until they have to stop,' Hamilton said. 'They have to keep the ball rolling on those things, because once it stops, it all comes crashing down.'"

"New houses still are selling for now, though sometimes at a discount. Existing houses for sale are bearing the brunt of a slow real estate market. 'The new construction has been very competitive and ... the resales are lagging,' said DeRepentigny."

"Lowry said he wonders whether the construction boom will stop, or the market will collapse completely as homeowners with adjustable-rate mortgages find they can't keep up with higher interest rates and developers continue to flip properties in an effort to stay afloat."

"'We don't know what the bottom looks like,' Lowry said. 'I can't tell you what the turnaround looks like.'"

The St Petersburg Times from Florida. "Jill Jackson, a single mom and apartment renter with an annual take-home pay of about $24,000, managed to go on an incredible real estate buying binge last year."

"In the span of 10 weeks, she bought 10 properties. She did not put a single penny down, borrowing the price for all 10 by signing for mortgage loans totaling $1.84-million. The investment plan seemed too good to be true. And it was."

"A year later, Jackson's portfolio has collapsed like a house of cards, with every one of the 10 properties in foreclosure and Jackson's credit wrecked. The 31-year-old says she was foolish to fall for the get-rich-quick scheme pitched to her by a church acquaintance."

"'I didn't know what I was doing,' Jackson acknowledges. 'I don't have any background in real estate.'"

"Beginning with three closings on a single day in February 2006, Jackson says she followed the Investors Outlet instructions, buying 10 properties she never had seen. She paid about $700,000 more for the portfolio than the county property appraiser said the properties were worth, a premium of 61 percent."

"'This is a snapshot of what's happening in every village, town, city and county in America,' said Ralph R. Roberts, a real estate broker. 'A lot of unassuming young men and women are being induced to be straw buyers.'"

"As before her foray into real estate investment, Jackson lives in a second-floor apartment in St. Petersburgand owns no real estate. She says she has been hurt by the investment fiasco and the accompanying newspaper publicity but has learned from it." "'I didn't wish for it to turn out this way,' she says. 'I know a lot more now.'"

The Palm Beach Post from Florida. "The number of property owners fighting to lower their tax bills is expected to grow by as much as 40 percent this year -- the highest number of challenges in more than a decade."

"County Commissioner Jess Santamaria said he plans to challenge the value of all of the residential investment property he owns. Residents who feel their values are too high should do the same, he said."

"'The prices are artificial,' Santamaria said. 'Between 2002 and 2005 they spiraled to double and triple the value on paper. But those were artificial values. Now we are starting to come down to reality. The prices may still continue to drop until they become realistic, and until then you'll have to contest it.'"