What do you see in your housing market this weekend? An auction? "Laguna Oaks Condo development is the latest to take the auction route. On November 4th, 50 units will go to the highest bidder in the space of two hours. The two bedroom units will open at $145,000, the three bedrooms open at $165,000. That's about half the normal asking prices."

Slower sales? "Chilliwack home sales in September were down 20 per cent from the same time last year, and by about 30 per cent from the 'sizzling sales' recorded just a month earlier in August."

"Trude Kafka, president of the Chilliwack and District Real Estate Board says she was 'shocked' when she saw the September sales figures. The sales dip isn’t confined to housing, she adds, 'it’s all across the board' from single-family homes to townhouses, apartments and even houses on acreage."

More defaults? "Creditors launched 1,778 new foreclosure actions in Wisconsin last month - 30% more than in September 2006, ForeclosuresWI.com reported."

"In Wisconsin, last year was bad - 16,473 foreclosure actions statewide - but this is worse, figures show. In this year's first nine months, 14,733 foreclosure actions were filed in Wisconsin, a 27% increase in households facing the loss of their homes to unpaid debt than in the same period a year earlier."

Or contingencies? "Sanghomitra and Upayan Sengupta put a bid in on a two-bedroom condo in St. Francis for about $100,000 more than the asking price of their current one-bedroom place, about $189,000."

"'There are a couple other condos up for sale in our complex - the one just across from us, for almost a year. Our house has been on sale for about a month, and hasn't had much traffic,' said Sanghomitra Sengupta of their downtown Milwaukee home."

"'The contract says we have until December, but if worst comes to worst, we might just give it up,' she said."

Or financial news? "The downgrade of three home builders into junk territory by Moody's Investors Service may only be the start of a rash of cuts of high grade builders into high yield, which may present funding challenges for some companies."

"'The fact that Moody's would even consider -- let alone act upon -- a two-notch downgrade for an investment grade builder signals some serious worries that the current downturn has eroded debt protection measures to very uncomfortable levels,' according to analysts at CreditSights. 'We would not be surprised if S&P and Fitch came out with similar assessments in the upcoming months as there is now a two-notch disparity amongst the agencies,' they said."

Or cancellations? "Comstock Homebuilding Cos. of Reston yesterday reported that even though it sold 81 houses in the third quarter, 78 sales were canceled, a net of just three sales in three months and a striking reminder of the building industry's deepening troubles.

"'Market conditions have continued to deteriorate throughout the year," CEO Christopher Clemente said in a statement."

"In the Washington region, the cancellation rate for newly built homes shot up to 48 percent in July and August from 18 percent at the comparable time last year, according to Hanley Wood Market Intelligence."

"The most dramatic rise was among condominiums, where the cancellation rate jumped to nearly 124 percent from 13.5 percent a year earlier, which means there were more cancellations of previous sales than there were new sales."