The Rocky Mountain News reports from Colorado. "Denver-area home prices fell by about 5.4 percent in October from a year earlier. Broker Larry McGee isn't worried that home prices were down in October from a year earlier. 'That reflects a realistic price given all of the foreclosures,' McGee said."

"Jim McCloskey, owner of the American Real Estate College, noted there is about a six-month supply of unsold homes on the market. But that inventory includes more than 700 homes priced between $1 million and $10 million, and ultra-expensive homes take an average of three years to sell, he said."

"At the bottom of the market, there are many 'one-bedroom condos and townhomes that you can't give away,' he said."

The Arizona Republic. "Voters looked at their rising mortgage payments, the empty houses on their streets and a shaky economy. Then, in 17 of 22 districts, they shot down proposals to maintain funding for Valley schools, deciding they couldn't afford it."

"School officials said they knew gloomy economics and still-high taxable home values would make voters leery of renewing tax rates, but no one predicted so many proposals would fail."

"Arizona schools chief Tom Horne said that if the districts do not persuade voters to change their minds, they will face 'catastrophic' cuts."

The Arizona Daily Star. "The city severed its agreement on Wednesday with developer Peggy Noonan to build Presidio Terrace, a seven-story condominium project just north of City Hall."

"The cancellation notice says she failed to comply with a city deadline to find legitimate financing, among other requirements. Rio Nuevo Director Greg Shelko cited two specific faults with Noonan's response. First, that she changed the plans to include 101 units of rental housing instead of condominiums."

"'That use is totally unacceptable,' Shelko said, given that the city had talked for three years about developing the site with high-class condominiums."

"In addition, Shelko said Noonan's new financing plan called for the seven-story building with 300,000 square feet to be built for only $29.7 million, a number said Shelko said is not realistic for a luxury condo development."

AZ Family from Arizona. "Foreclosures are at a record high here in Arizona. Jenny Celli's trying to leave behind a foreclosure that she went through last year."

"'Well, your life is destroyed, really,' Celli said. 'Your life is destroyed and it's humiliating.'"

"And it's still humiliating because the foreclosure has virtually destroyed Celli's credit. 'Oh, I'm screwed,' she said. 'I'm screwed. I think my credit score is something like 569."

The New York Times on Nevada. "As his wedding day approached last spring, Marshall Whittey found that his money could not keep pace with the grandiosity of his plans. But rather than scale back, he chose instead, like millions of homeowners across the country, to borrow against the soaring value of his home."

"But now, in an ominous portent for the national economy, Mr. Whittey has grown tight with his money. His home is worth far less than it was a year ago, and his equity has evaporated. And like many other involuntary adopters of a newly economical lifestyle, he can borrow no more."

"'It used to be that if I wanted it, I’d just go and buy it and finance it,' Mr. Whittey said. 'I’m feeling the crunch, and my spending is down significantly.'"

"'Everybody was basically using their house as an A.T.M. machine,' said Dave Simonsen, a senior VP for an industrial real estate firm in Reno. 'Now they are upside down on their house without that piggy bank to go back to.'"

In Business Las Vegas from Nevada. "Whenever a member of the national or international media wants to know about foreclosures in Las Vegas, they call Michael Krein, the owner of Nevada Real Estate Services, (and) president of the National REO Brokers Association."

"Q: Why aren't homes selling at courthouse auctions? A: The trouble right now with most of the houses on the steps is there is more owed on them than they are worth, so the investors are not purchasing them. One of the misnomers is the bank is going to sell it for what's owed on it. That has nothing to do with it."

"Once the bank owns the property, there is a new appraisal done. They will price it according to market conditions. Are they a little more aggressive about it? Absolutely. They have to move it and want to move it."

"Q: Who owns the homes you have been foreclosing upon? A: The last two years, 80 to 85 percent of what we've taken has been investor owned...so far I have not seen that many homeowners put out. I had a few and some of those did not understand the type of loans they had. We have seen that a few times. They didn't understand that — they didn't read the fine print."

"Q: Why will that pick up in the spring? A: A tremendous amount of three-year ARMs (adjustable rate mortgages) are going to start resetting. Some of them are coming up now...A lot were planning on flipping it and some thought (prices) would keep going up forever."

"Q: Investors? A: Investors is the wrong term for what occurred here the last two years. It is amateur hour and these people were speculators. Unfortunately, a lot of the agents who sold them these properties did not have the skill set and shouldn't have been representing these people."

"It was amateur hour all around. Dealing with investment properties requires a knowledge of cap rates, rates of return, IRRs, vacancy rates, credit collection factors. You talk with most retail real estate agents, they could not tell you what those terms are, yet they were out there selling properties to investors, telling them what great deals they were."

The Deseret Morning News from Utah. "Not all that long ago, St. George had been one of the hottest housing areas in the West, but it has definitely cooled, according to figures released by housing market research firm, Metrostudy."

"'St. George is going through the same struggles that the rest of the nation is,' said Eric Allen, director of Metrostudy's Utah/Idaho region."

"Allen said the number of new homes sitting unoccupied in St. George and in nearby Mesquite, Nev., remains a concern. In St. George, finished vacant homes comprised 37 percent of the total new construction inventory, while in Mesquite, finished vacant homes comprised 38 percent of the total newly built inventory, the report states."

"'A healthy number is between 25-30 percent for those markets,' Allen said."

"Allen said developers are sweetening the pot for prospective buyers. 'Builders are giving away a lot of concessions, using a lot of incentives,' he said."

From KUTV in Utah. "Bill Gephardt continues his series of special investigations into the business of questionable real estate deals. This isn’t just about one or two cases. This is about dozens of people pushed to the brink of financial ruin."

"Dave Ormsbee has never been inside this Draper home, which he now owns. Dave says it was his good credit alone that bought a home in Draper and a house in St. George, both with no money out of his pocket."

"Now at the age of 27, Dave owes more than a million dollars in mortgage loans. Sounds like he makes a lot of money, but quite the opposite is true. Dave is a college student and waits tables after school."

"He makes maybe $11,000 a year, yet he bought the Draper house for more than $700,000. 'You’re a server at a restaurant. How can you afford a $719,000 house? I can’t,' says Dave."

"Despite that, Dave was given mortgage loans on not just one but both of the homes. But how could a college student making $11,000 a year convince any lender to give him a million dollars in mortgages? Take a closer look at Dave Ormsbee’s loan application. It shows him as the owner of his own company, Ormsbee Graphic Design."

"But there is no such physical company, it’s all created on paper, he says. 'That’s the company that they had me make up,' says David."

"And the loan documents show David doesn’t make $11,000 per year, but $18,500 a month. 'Do you make $18,500 a month? Nope. I don’t make that a year,' says David."

"Dave says he didn’t fill-out the documents. He admits he made the mistake of never looking at what he was signing. 'There just so much signing going on that you just don’t care what you’re signing after a while,' says Dave."