The Baltimore Sun reports from Maryland. "The Station North townhouses rise four stories and boast granite kitchens, open floor plans and the floor-to-ceiling windows that new-home buyers have come to expect. But the courtyard is deserted. In about half of the 32 homes, the oversized front windows reveal an emptiness back to rear windows. Several 'for rent' signs appear next to front doors."

"Like other new residential projects around the Baltimore area, Station North was planned at the height of the housing boom but not finished until after the market began to fizzle."

"Many other builders around the city and region are grappling with half-occupied, completed projects they assumed would be sold out long ago."

"New condo sales in metropolitan Baltimore fell 37 percent in the first half of this year, while new townhouse sales fell 15 percent, according to Hanley Wood Market Intelligence. And in the third quarter, as the credit crunch hit the market, there were more contract cancellations than sales in the Baltimore metro market, according to Delta Associates, which includes projects that are selling or under construction."

"Builders now are cutting prices to levels that are more than 10 percent below the height of the market."

"'The market has definitely slowed down dramatically from what it was when we were under construction,' said James D. Campbell, a principal with the Station North builder, which originally had projected homes would be sold out by now at prices up to $450,000."

"Instead, it has reduced to $299,900 a home with hardwood floors in the kitchen, a slate-surround electric fireplace with remote; a security system and a full-size stackable washer and dryer."

"'We had hoped to be out by now,' Campbell said. 'The concept was to leave the last units until they were ready to be completed and get the highest prices, but unfortunately the market changed before we got to completion.'"

"The number of unsold new condo units in metro Baltimore has been growing since the end of 2005, when the region had 2,843 unsold units, according to the Delta Associates analysis. By the end of this September, the number had jumped to 5,091, including 865 in the city."

"In April 2006, Jessica Franklin made a deposit on a $375,000 townhouse in Station North, with plans to move there from Washington and work from Baltimore as an affordable-housing consultant."

"But her job plans changed, and she decided to stay in Washington, she said. Shortly after closing on the home in May 2006, she put it up for sale. But by then the market had turned, and it was difficult to compete with the builder, who had lowered prices on new units and begun offering incentives. Now, the builder is offering one of the townhouses for $299,900."

"'I just think that it was not a good investment for me because it turned out that the market is just not ready for those prices and probably won't be ready for that for a few years,' said Franklin, who has since rented out her home and is waiting for the market to improve."

"'Our expectations back [in 2005] might have been unrealistically optimistic,' said Campbell, of Somerset Development. 'We're hoping now our expectations are unrealistically pessimistic, and we could do better.'"

The Worchester Business Times from Massachusetts. "Home stats in Worcester County are looking more troubled than in many parts of the state. According to the Warren Group's August real estate roundup, Worcester County single-family sales dropped 7 percent during that period, and condo sales plummeted 13.5 percent."

"'Overall, I think a significant impact on the Worcester market is our high rate of foreclosures,' said Jeff Hall, VP of the Worcester Regional Association of Realtors."

"Area developer Roger Kane said the slump in Worcester County and boost in Middlesex County may reflect buyers taking advantage of falling prices to move east. 'A couple years ago, a buyer couldn't afford to buy a home, say, in Sudbury,' he said. 'This year they might be able to.'"

"Kane said there is less demand for starter homes in places like Holden and Shrewsbury than he's ever seen, and he doesn't know why. 'There's always been a shortage of that first-time homebuyer home,' he said. 'Now it seems like some of those homes are sitting.'"

The Boston Globe from Massachusetts. "When one of the condominiums at Dale Village, a 108-unit complex in Roslindale, fell victim to foreclosure last month, its owner left behind more than an unpaid mortgage. She also owed the condo association $9,000 in fees and legal expenses."

"The association, which has sued the woman and her lender to collect the overdue balance, believes it eventually will get its money. But until it does, the complex has delayed small repairs to focus on bigger issues."

"'If one owner is unable to pay, then the other owners are left holding the bag, so to speak,' said attorney Janet O. Aronson of the Braintree law firm which represents 2,700 condo associations in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. 'Because when you buy a condo, you're linked financially with people you don't know, and you have to take the good with the bad.'"

"Aronson's firm has seen a 150 percent increase in the delinquency of fee payments in the past two years, tracing back to when subprime mortgages exploded in popularity."

"Unlike during the last real estate slump of the early 1990s, when some condo associations were ruined financially by unpaid fees, Massachusetts now makes it easier for condos to recover delinquencies."

"When condo associations sue delinquent owners, 'a lot of people say, 'That's not fair. Why did you do that? Why not cut me some slack?' said Charles A. Perkins Jr., a Chelmsford lawyer who represents condo associations and whose debt-collection activities have doubled since last year. 'But the association has no choice.'"

The Republican from Massachusetts. "At a Congressional hearing in Boston's Roxbury neighborhood, Attorney General Martha Coakley said the home foreclosure crisis was far from over and would spread beyond urban areas to the suburbs."

"There have been 1,000 home foreclosures in Boston in the past six months, clustered in minority and low-income neighborhoods, Coakley said. But the problem is not isolated to the cities, she said."

"'You haven't seen the end of this crisis yet,' Coakley said. 'You are going to see foreclosures in some of our middle and more tony communities.'"

"In Springfield, according to The Warren Group, the number of foreclosure auction notices - the last step before the actual auction - totaled 682 from January to August this year, a 154.5 percent increase over the 268 auction notices in the same period last year."

"Michael J. Farrell, president of Northeast Financial Group in Wilbraham, who helps people trying to stave off foreclosure, said he hasn't seen a consistent approach from lenders dealing with the wave of delinquent borrowers."

"Instead, mortgage companies have been postponing foreclosure auctions 'without any end in sight. The banks just don't seem to have a game plan,' Farrell said."

"He has been able to work out 'quite a few' short sales, he said. But the biggest problem is time. Lenders are taking so long to agree to the lower price, with lower loan repayment amount, that 'in the meantime, we lose the buyer,' Farrell said."

The Cape Cod Times from Massachusetts. "Cape Cod is among the areas of the Bay State to see its share of foreclosure turmoil in recent months. On the Cape, more than 200 homeowners have lost their property to foreclosure so far this year, according to the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds."

"So far this year, the registry has recorded nearly four times as many foreclosures as it did during the same period in 2006."

"The Housing Assistance Corp. in Hyannis has been working on 'short selling,' with its clients for about a month, said the organization's CEO Rick Presbrey. 'I think there's been relatively little success,' Presbrey said, noting that the state government has little real authority over national mortgage companies."

The Street.com. "On the New England resort island of Nantucket, real estate attorney Stephen Meister has hired the auction house, Sheldon Good, to sell off three properties, two of which he developed and a third that his son bought and renovated."

"Meister, who owns a residential development company on Nantucket, says he chose to auction because 'I want a definite timeline,' and the flexibility to make his next moves."

"Meister says he has set minimum bids for his properties 'at least 15% to 20% below market value,' at $7.65 million, $2.55 million and $1.15 million."

"Is Meister pursuing the right course? Ryan Wagner, a VP a real estate broker, said he recalled 'two other instances where it's been tried, but I don't think in either the reserve price was met.'"

"Wagner says that 'the market is fine.' However, he adds, 'I don't think anyone in their right mind would have hoped things would continue' at the pace that pulled the market forward in 2005 and 2006."