The Modesto Bee reports from California. "A 133-unit condominium project across the street from California State University, Stanislaus, is in danger of falling through, leaving investors in the lurch. The landowner, Modesto attorney Ralph Ogden III, said low-income apartments are one of five or six options being discussed. 'In the end, (condos) aren't economically viable,' Ogden said."

"That leaves investor Michael Chadd, who borrowed to invest with Strategic Investment, very, very unhappy. Chadd bought a $100,000 stake in the condo plan. For the last nine months, he's watched his money slowly drain away. What Chadd didn't see and Strategic Investments didn't mention was the sour state of the residential building market."

"'We were all pretty stupid,' Chadd said."

"It's back to the future in the Northern San Joaquin Valley as median home prices have plummeted to 2004 levels. Stanislaus County's median-priced homes sold for just $300,000 last month. That's lower than during November 2004, when the region's housing market was booming. In the last 12 months alone, Stanislaus' prices have dropped nearly 19 percent."

"Merced County is even worse. Prices there plunged nearly 26 percent to $260,000 in September compared with a year earlier. That's the biggest decline in California, according to DataQuick."

"Home sales volume has sunk to levels not seen since the region's mid-1990s recession. Only 372 homes sold this September in Stanislaus County. In September 2005, more than 1,400 homes sold in the county. Back then the region was in a housing boom."

"These days, it's foreclosures that are booming. Last month, 268 homes were repossessed by lenders at foreclosure auctions on Stanislaus' courthouse steps."

The Sacramento Bee. "Lena Abello, her brother and two friends stood poised to buy their first home together last month – a $303,000 single-family house in Natomas. But the shake-up in the nation's mortgage industry abruptly shuttered their dream."

"'The day before we were to open escrow, my lender called and said the program we were about to qualify through was no longer available,' said Abello. 'She said we were no longer approved for a loan.'"

"'The products we used – the creative financing, so to speak – are pretty much gone,' said Jon Dobbel, Elk Grove branch manager for Gold River-based Summit Funding. 'It definitely has an effect on people's ability to buy houses.'"

"Prices have fallen across the region as the supply of homes for sale continues to exceed the number of willing buyers. Sacramento real estate agent Rosanna Garcia attributed September's downturn 'to people not qualifying because the lenders have become so strict. It's also still about fear,' she said. 'How much more is it going to drop? Am I going to be overpaying?'"

"Abello and her partners had hoped to buy together what they couldn't afford separately. That turned out to be a four-bedroom, 1,800-square-foot house in Natomas owned by a San Francisco real estate agent. The long-range plan was to get their feet in the door as homeowners and 'use real estate to build and create wealth.'"

"But that plan is now on hold. 'I had to call the (San Francisco) owner and tell her the bad news,' Abello said. For now, she and her friends will remain renters."

The San Francisco Chronicle. "Bay Area homes sales sank to a two-decade low in September, as tighter lending standards walloped an already-declining market. It was the slowest September since DataQuick started recording statistics in 1988 and the 32nd consecutive month of declining sales."

"'I had an offer come in on a property in Oakley that was a probate sale,' said Don Forrester, a Realtor in Walnut Creek. To show comparables to his client, 'I pulled up 30-something (nearby) homes at that price level of $356,000. Eighty percent were bank-owned foreclosures or short sales. That was huge.'"

"Forrester said the price impact was clear: 'A year ago, (that property) would have gone for $400,000. A year and a half before that, it was $450,000.'"

"Rising inventory levels are another factor that impact sales. The number of for-sale homes in September rose in seven Bay Area counties compared with a year ago, according to MLS data compiled by ZipRealty."

"At the same time, every Bay Area county had a significant chunk of its listings showing price reductions, ZipRealty said. Price reductions ranged from 25 percent of San Francisco listings to 54 percent of Solano County listings. That doesn't include homes that were removed from the MLS and then relisted at a lower price, a controversial but common practice."

"Oakland officials and advocacy groups announced a set of resources and legislative initiatives Thursday aimed at fighting the subprime mortgage mess."

"Dorothy Hicks said she is on the verge of losing her home in the Havenscourt neighborhood of Oakland. Hicks said predatory lending practices forced the monthly mortgage payments on the home she has owned for 39 years well above $3,100. Hicks said she attempted to pull equity out of her home to start a discount children's uniform business."

"With prepayment penalties and high fees, Hicks said she now owes $412,000 on her property. A few years ago, the principal on the loan was just over $20,000. 'A lot of people will tell you, 'You knew what you were signing,' Hicks said. 'That is not so.'"

From ABC 30. "There are new signs of just how hard the mortgage meltdown is hitting the Bay Area as the latest data shows home sales in Northern California have sunk to the lowest level in two decades."

"In Contra Costa County, realtor Lynda Bartels says these days, a lot of folks are looking at homes, but not necessarily buying. 'I think buyers are worried. They want to get a home as low as they can, but at the same time inventory is up and there's lots to choose from.'"

"The Bay Area housing slump is hitting realtors hard. Bartels' profits are down 80 percent in the last two years and developers are also trying to unload leftover homes that just won't sell. 'The business decision is more of an advantage to sell at a discount and lose money than wait 12 months on a market that might improve,' says Bartels."

"The Cerrita Gated Community in Pinole has seven, 3-bedroom, 2-bath homes that will sell at auction next month. Opening bid is $385,000 dollars -- nearly half of the asking price."

"'I wouldn't be in a hurry to buy. You can wait over 6-months, a year, even two years, and we're still going to see those lingering effects,' says Thomas Davidoff, U.C. Berkeley Haas School Of Business. 'For the inner Bay Area the worst is yet to come, and it's going to be best for buyers.'"

The Marin Independent Journal. "Late summer's credit crunch continued to plague the housing market in September, time-warping Marin's median single-family home price back to what it was a year ago."

"The median single-family home price in Marin in September was $860,000, just shy of the $863,500 in September 2006, according toDataQuick. The median single-family home price in August was $1 million."

"'September was a really difficult month in Marin,' said Valerie Castellana, president of the Marin Association of Realtors. 'The total sales dropped dramatically, more than we've seen in recent years. The segment of the market that is most hard hit are properties under $1 million.'"

"'I think it's a correction that's happening that was due,' said Bruce Berlinger, an agent in Tiburon."

The Brentwood Press. "It’s no secret that California’s red-hot real estate market has cooled considerably over the past few years. With property values and home prices on the decline and bank foreclosures at an all-time high, local Realtors and their clients have been forced to change the way they approach a deal."

"Currently there are approximately 3,000 homes for sale in East County, nearly 43 percent of which are bank-owned foreclosures, according to local Realtor Brian Sharp."

"'Yes, it is a crazy market right now, and so the one thing you really need to stress is how to help. Half the properties are in foreclosure and people’s loans are upside down, so my job is to find a way to help them,' said Joy Di Ricco, a Realtor in Antioch."

"Mark Christopulus of M&H Realty in Brentwood also has managed to stay busy during the downturn, thanks in part to his expertise in dealing with foreclosures."

"'What’s hurting the market right now is that banks are taking foreclosures and selling them for under market value because they want to move them,' he said. 'What I’ve been doing in this market is taking on foreclosures from the bank and taking the listing and trying to sell them.'"

"So what’s a homeowner to do? Sit tight if you can, and wait for the market to settle, advised Brian Sharp of Sharp Realty in Brentwood."

"'I’m telling clients not to buy right now if they don’t have to,' he said. 'Uncertainty kills the market, and I believe in the last couple of years greed and bad loans have contributed to the decline of the market, and buyers are scared. What I’m seeing a lot of right now are short-sales. Things are definitely slow.'"

"In Brentwood, there are currently 600 homes for sale. Sharp said 20 homes were sold in September, and there are approximately 10 houses pending for October. He said that home prices have shot up faster than incomes were able to keep pace, and thus 'everything is out of whack.'"

"What people need to be careful of, he added, are those who are painting a rosy picture that currently doesn’t exist."

"'There is a very small group of unethical behavior out there right now, telling people to buy and sell regardless,' said Sharp. 'I say: do your job, serve your clients, but have some integrity. That’s the bottom line.'"