The Times Community reports on Virginia. "Fauquier County Supervisor Bill Downey all but stuck a fork in the 298-home Arrington Knolls proposal and declared it dead. Downey doesn't believe the troubled project will survive Centex's corporate 'bean counters,' whom he said want to minimize the company's losses in a dismal housing market of historic proportions."

"Three weeks ago, Centex abandoned its 358-home Freedom Place project in Bealeton, also without notice. It guaranteed Fauquier tens of million of dollars to improve public schools, roads and other infrastructure."

"When Downey slammed the company for its 'horrendous' performance in Fauquier, Centex Division Manager Joseph Ricketts said: 'You're right, it's been horrendous. The market's been horrendous. We are truly in unchartered territories as far as what we have encountered....If you talk with people who have been with [Centex] since the early '70s, this is the worst market that we've ever encountered.'"

"'It's all about economic sense. And that's the reality we all live in in this country, Ricketts said. Centex probably should have abandoned the Freedom Place project sooner, Ricketts admitted. 'We stretched out at Freedom Place for a long time,' he said. 'We held on and continued to spend money past the point that [we] probably should have.'"

The Roanoke Times from Virginia. "A lender has taken possession of a spacious $870,000 home in Hunting Hills in what real estate agents believe to be the largest residential foreclosure action taken in at least five years in the Roanoke region."

"The loan default by the owner of the home in Roanoke County is one example of how the current spike in foreclosures is arcing across all income brackets."

"Foreclosures have skyrocketed nationally and in Virginia. Foreclosures in Virginia were up 300 percent in July and up 900 percent in August from the same months of 2006, according to RealtyTrac."

"William Crick, the former owner of the Hunting Hills home, agreed to an interest-only, adjustable-rate mortgage of $882,650 to purchase the Falcon Ridge address in June 2005, according to documents. Crick paid $909,950 for the property, which was newly built at nearly 6,000 square feet."

"In the spring of 2006...Crick listed the Falcon Ridge address for sale at $1.15 million. The real estate market was peaking in mid-summer 2006, giving sellers the opportunity for the highest prices for their property of the market cycle."

The Virginia Pilot. "In Virginia Beach, the number of homes in some stage of foreclosure, including notice of default and notice of trustee sale, jumped 25 percent in August to 100 filings."

"Statewide, the number of home-owners receiving foreclosure notices last month jumped to 3,032, more than double the number in July."

"The total number of homes in Virginia in some stage of foreclosure in August totaled 3,318 last month, a 95 percent increase from July. That was almost nine times the number of homes in some stage of foreclosure in August 2006."

The Baltimore Sun from Maryland. "Many sellers and agents are feeling, as they say in the real estate business, highly motivated in today's market. They're upping the ante by offering furniture, vacations, even the car in the driveway."

"'What I'm seeing is that a lot of sellers' agents out there are calling buyers' agents saying, 'What can my seller do to close this deal? What kind of incentives are your buyers looking for?' said Realtor Kerri Tkach."

"A glut of homes on the market and a meltdown among mortgage lenders has created an environment where buyers often have the upper hand. In the Baltimore area there are far more sellers than buyers."

"Metropolitan Regional Information Systems Inc. reports that last month's home sales plummeted around the region, dropping as much as 23 percent in Baltimore City and Howard County from August 2006."

"Michael and Patricia McKinney recently purchased a home in the Phoenix area for about 10 percent less than the asking price. 'The moment we started showing interest in places, the prices started coming down,' said Michael. 'The seller's agent made it clear to my buyer's agent that they were willing to negotiate.'"

The News & Observer from North Carolina. "Sales of existing homes in the Triangle fell last month as the worst national slump in 16 years continued to pinch the market. 'What's happened nationally has now caught up with North Carolina as a whole and Raleigh-Durham specifically,' said Michael Helmar of Moody's Economy.com, who tracks the Triangle housing market."

"Even steeper declines are likely: The inventory of unsold houses is the highest in at least a year, up 20.9 percent from August 2006. Pending sales declined 15 percent, and showings were down 9 percent. The number of homes pulled off the market was up 39 percent, and the number of price drops was up 39 percent."

"'Total [Triangle] sales will probably be 10 percent to 15 percent off last year," said Ross Rhudy, chief operating officer at one of the region's largest residential brokerages."

"One of Rhudy's clients last week sold a home in the Washington, D.C., area for $590,000, though it cost $700,000 two years earlier. Sales will drop further because the fourth quarter traditionally is slow, and cheap mortgage loans in past years had satisfied demand for homes, he said."

"'We had such a strong run that put homes within reach of just about everyone,' Rhudy said."

"Buyers can't expect much help from the Fed's lowering of short-term lending rates. In fact, the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose from 5.875 percent before Tuesday's rate cut to about 6 percent afterwards, said Glen Astolfi, chief operating officer of DNJ Mortgage in Raleigh."

"'What the Fed did doesn't help the mortgage problems we have,' Astolfi said. 'The guys with bad credit still have bad credit and still can't get a loan. Foreclosures will continue to rise.'"

The Post & Courier from South Carolina. "While thousands of homes are for sale in the Charleston region, fewer people can afford to buy them because their wages are not keeping pace with prices."

"That's the message from the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce's Developers Council to more than 100 local business leaders."

"Rising land costs and an influx of cash-flush newcomers who have sold homes in higher-priced areas, coupled with the recent housing boom, have pushed Charleston home prices to record levels."

"'Ten years ago, this was a relatively affordable market,' said Tammie Hoy, executive director for the Lowcountry Housing Trust."

"Local real estate agents say savvy buyers can find good deals in this market, but they added that many of the deepest price cuts are being offered in new communities that national home builders are developing in the outskirts of the region."