What do you see in your local housing market this weekend? Lower prices? "Need evidence that the high-end housing market is in turnaround? Well, the news that Lorraine Bracco has dropped the price of her 2-acre Sneden’s Landing estate to $2.9 million pretty well proves the point. The home, you might remember, was first listed all the way back in 2004—right around the time the air first started leaking out of the real-estate bubble—at $4.4 mil."

A new home fire sale? "Calling it a fire sale might be a little much. But one of the Triad's top home builders kicked off a three-day discount blitz Friday in hopes of luring hesitant home buyers and bringing in some quick cash."

"Hovnanian Enterprises has cut prices by more than 20 percent in prime markets and shaved more than 10 percent off the price of some Triad properties."

"'I've been here for eight years, and I'll be honest with you,' said Richelle Smart, an area sales and marketing manager for K. Hovnanian Homes. 'We've never offered anything like this.'"

More foreclosures? "The number of houses hitting the auction block in Tarrant County will be down in October, but Dallas-Fort Worth is still on pace to surpass a record 40,000 foreclosures this year, according to figures released Thursday by Foreclosure Listing Service."

"'This will be the highest level of annual residential foreclosure postings since the real estate bust of the late 1980s,' said George Roddy, president of the Addison-based company."

"The lower monthly figure does not change the trend that has been building for five years, Roddy cautioned."

Or realtor recommendations. "In reality, so far, resale prices for some of the hardest hit residential communities in the Valley are down around 16.4 percent from the December 2005 peak."

"If we anticipate the worst - mass foreclosures, with lenders dumping properties for pennies on the dollar - what can you do now to escape ruin? Price your property to sell."

"If you live in an archetypical suburban Phoenix home, your house is worth today just about what it would have sold for in April or May 2005. If you're priced higher than that, you may be priced too high to sell."