The Brownville Herald reports from Texas. "Don Currie used to see no more than two people a month walk through his doors, seeking advice on how to handle the pending foreclosure of their home. Last month, Currie, who is the executive director of the Community Development Corporation of Brownsville, has seen walk-ins quintuple as an increasing number people have begun defaulting on their loans."

"The housing market downturn has only begun to be felt in Brownsville, Currie said. 'This will definitely have a broader impact on the local economy,' he said. 'How much could be a shock to everybody.'"

From KHOU.com in Texas. "A foreclosure sign in Spring. From Wall Street to the streets of suburbia, home foreclosures are on an unprecedented rise: 30,000 houses in the Houston area last month alone."

"'There’s just so much of it,' assistant district attorney John Brewer said."

"'It’s almost the perfect storm,' mortgage lender David Zugheri said. 'The fraud has not made it to the surface on loans that were already done.'"

The Houston Chronicle in Texas. "Since August, at least 500 Houston-area residents have lost, or will soon lose, jobs in the mortgage industry. Nationally, construction companies and title insurers have trimmed their ranks, though such cutbacks have not been widespread here."

"These early layoffs...are 'glimpses of evidence' that problems in the national real estate market have hit Houston, said Barton Smith, director of the Institute for Regional Forecasting at the University of Houston. 'There may be a ripple effect where you're only seeing the tip of the iceberg.'"

"He notes that single-family housing starts in the area are down about 20 percent, which will translate into fewer construction jobs."

The Waco Tribune from Texas. "More communities are becoming barrels of rotten apples as the nation reels from rampant foreclosures and a subprime-mortgage mess. In Waco, one culprit sits amid gathering weeds atChimney Corner Drive, in a subdivision otherwise filled with manicured yards and well-kept homes owned by professionals."

"Real estate agent Debra Lyon tried to sell the house, 'but it needed updating,' she says, adding that most people don’t view $450,000 houses as fixer-uppers. It didn’t sell over several months."

"The offending house, which sports five bedrooms, an in-ground pool, spa and two fireplaces, was posted for foreclosure and presented for sale Tuesday on the steps of the McLennan County Courthouse."

"The holder of the note, World Savings Bank, set the opening price at $441,474. No one bid on the house, so the bank took it back and will place it on the market, spokesman Scott Emery said."

"Figures show that Waco’s inventory of homes is growing, and higher inventories can exert downward pressures on prices and may give builders second thoughts about building new homes. Texas A&M University reports that McLennan County in July had 8.6 months worth of inventory on the market. That’s up from 7.6 months in July of last year and six months in July of 2005. One local real estate agent, who asked that her name not be used, says her listed homes are moving like molasses."

"Subprime loans in some cases were called 'no-doc' loans because some lenders did practically nothing to document a borrower’s worthiness. 'These didn’t become bad loans; they were bad the day they were made. They were destined for problems,' says David Smith, president of Central National Bank in Waco."

From My West Texas. "After frantic spring and summer, the Permian Basin Board of Realtors says there are more houses available. A slight shift in the 'fast and furious' housing market has created healthier conditions for buyers and sellers and more listings overall, according to Laura Lyons, president of the Permian Basin Board of Realtors."

"Lyons told the Reporter-Telegram this past week current market conditions include 386 active listings, the most in some time, she said, and considerably more than the 226 on the market in May."

"'I think (the market) has slowed down,' said Realtor Victoria Printz. 'We have nearly double the inventory we had in the spring and summer.'"

The Denver Post from Colorado. "All Jan Chandler wanted to do was avoid foreclosure, so she listed her Lafayette home for $45,000 less than its appraised value of $315,000. But in today's slumping real estate market, that still wasn't enough to lure a buyer, so Chandler dropped the price even more."

"'I sold it for about $12,000 less than what I owed on it,' said Chandler. 'I was lying awake at night thinking how I was going to avoid bankruptcy.'"

"'It went from $2,200 to $2,800 a month,' she said. 'Even with a good job, there is no way I could afford another $600 a month.'"

"In the past few weeks, real estate agent Bob Winkler has recommended that at least four of his clients reduce the asking prices of the homes they are trying to sell. It's a far cry from the heady years when buyers scrambled to buy, making offers well above listing prices."

"'Back in 2000 when the market was really hot, I used to kid that you'd list a house and take a ridiculous figure, add 10 percent and start packing,' said Winkler. 'Now, you've got to have it in tip-top shape and be willing to spend money.'"

"Longmont has seen the average home price drop 18 percent in 2007 to $285,000. Discounts have increased more in Longmont than in any other Denver region, from 8 percent to 15 percent."

"'We're having trouble because the builders keep building,' said broker Mike Welk. 'It's really taken a toll on some of the inventory that's already here. They (builders) can offer a higher discount than we can as individual home sellers. When you can go buy a brand new house that's five miles away, why would you buy something that's been used for 30 years.'"

"Of the slightly more than 1 million mortgage loans in Colorado, 3.87 percent were delinquent, versus a 5.12 percent rate for the U.S. as a whole, according to a recent survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association."

"Subprime loans are defaulting at a much higher rate, with 11.04 percent past due. The MBA counted 127,876 subprime loans in the state."

"'I've seen downturns before, but I've never seen this level of panic among the investors,' said Jim Spray of America's Mortgage LLC who's been in the mortgage industry for three decades."

"Alicia and Kent Pope thought they had everything lined up to buy a $200,000 home in Parker, but because of less-than-perfect credit, the couple has had to put their plans on hold."

"'We were going to qualify just barely,' said Alicia Pope. 'We found a great home in a short-sale situation, and we were ready to move on it.'"

"But when it came time, the lender they were working with said he couldn't provide the letter needed to present an offer to the seller. 'They said things are different; they've changed all the criteria. They've tightened up,' Alicia Pope said. 'It looks like we are going to be out of luck unless our situation gets better or things change again.'"

"For every buyer who can't close on a house, there's a seller stuck with a home. Take Paul Tamburello. He had his $600,000 home in the Highland neighborhood on the market for four months before putting it under contract July 24. He was scheduled to close on Aug. 31."

"The buyer had planned on 100 percent financing but when the credit markets blew up, he was unable to qualify. Even when he came up with 5 percent down, his credit score - around 650 - was too low for the bank's comfort."

"'If the FICO scores were in the 700s, he probably could have gotten it done,' said Tamburello, who took his home off the market and plans to refinance."

"Buyers of investment property also are having a tough time. Nearly three months ago, Oliver Esparham was approved to receive a 100 percent loan to finance the purchase of a multifamily property, which another buyer outbid him for."

"Esparham continued looking, assuming he'd get the same type of financing. But when he found a $310,000 property at 14th Avenue and Clayton Street, the bank told him he'd need 20 percent down."

"'We'd checked out the units and done all the financial planning to see if it was positive income,' Esparham said. 'It looked good up until the point they told me I had to have 20 percent. That's a lot out of pocket with the way the economy is now.'"

"Ashlie Woods, Esparham's real estate agent, blames the banks for lending to people they shouldn't have. She said the market hasn't seen the full impact."

"'It's going to spiral down, and it's going to affect the market even more,' Woods said. 'People aren't buying product, and we're not moving it. There are going to be more properties on the market than ever.'"