The Toledo Blade reports from Ohio. "A slump in the local condominium market is mirroring slowing sales of single family homes. The 391 condos sold in metro Toledo and outlying areas from January through October is down 8 percent from the same period a year ago, and the average sale price dropped 4 percent to $157,527, according to the Toledo Board of Realtors."

"'There is an excess housing inventory. It's the simple economics of supply and demand,' said Dan Lepkowski, an agent in Toledo."

"The trend of empty nesters who want to downsize into condo units but must sell their homes first are among the factors holding back the market, he said."

"Kathleen Ryan, of Sulphur Springs Realty in Toledo, said excess residential inventory can cause sellers to take substantially less for their homes. 'We don't have the people moving from out of town and coming into the area like we have had in the past,' she said."

"The Realtors report shows a steady drop over the last three months in condo sales in Lucas County: 18 units were sold in October; 27 in September; and 29 in August. Jon Modene, president of ReMax Masters in Perryburg, said the 625 condos listed for sale in Wood and Lucas counties in October was...worse than the 515 units in 2005."

"Still, the outlook for the condo market continues to outpace the residential market, in part, because the bulk of the foreclosures are being made on single family homes, he said."

The Detroit News reports from Michigan. "Danny Stokes used to sell drugs, before he discovered it was safer and more lucrative to sell mortgages. 'We are seeing people who two years ago were involved in drug trafficking,' said Mark Bowling, supervisor of the FBI's regional office in Macomb County. They slide into mortgage fraud, he said, 'because it's easier, it's safer and the amount of profit is incredibly high. Once they're in the mortgage fraud business, they see how easy it is.'"

"Inflated appraisals are so common that it's almost impossible to accurately value properties in some parts of Metro Detroit, said Liza Manzella, a Shelby Township appraiser. Things are particularly bad, she said, in parts of Detroit. 'You can't find any in a whole neighborhood that aren't fraudulent,' she said."

"Mortgage fraud was easy for Hani Mortada. From 2002-04, the Lebanese citizen went from a struggling part-time college student in Dearborn to a mortgage loan officer with $25,000 in the bank and a Cadillac Escalade in his garage. In those heady days, money came fast and the chances of getting caught were slim."

"'I knew (lenders) would not call to verify (loan information),' Mortada told a federal jury in Detroit. His group of scam artists had 'the best underwriters and the best banks -- you would not even believe what they would do.'"

"Derek Brown knew Detroit had a problem when a grocery clerk he knew quit his job to become a mortgage loan officer."

"'Everyone was selling mortgages. There were mortgage offices on every block,' said Brown, past president of the Detroit Real Estate Brokers Association. 'One day bagging groceries and the next day selling my mother a mortgage? What the hell is that?'"

"Today, many of those sweet deals are turning sour. In August alone, there were 3,900 new foreclosure notices in Detroit."

"'There were people who couldn't read or define a loan application who were selling $300,000 loans,' said Emil Izrailov, who started his career selling subprime mortgages and is now chief operations officer of Kaye Financial Corp. in Bloomfield Hills."

"On the other side of the table, home buyers were asking for loans that would have seemed outrageous a few years earlier. In Shelby Township, John Karpinki got a $650,000 no-money-down mortgage just 22 months after he was released from prison, where he spent 12 years. The home is now in foreclosure."

"'People would come in and tell me what kind of loan they wanted,' said Nicole Jackson, who worked in the subprime market in Detroit for years. 'If I didn't sell them a loan, the person down the street would.'"

"In effect, mortgage lenders today act less like banks than like car dealers: Once a mortgage is sold, their interaction with the homeowner is done. Instead of making money on 30 years of interest, lenders make their money on closing fees. As lenders became further separated from the risk of bad loans, their goal changed: Quality didn't matter; quantity did."

"A lot of people made money on Ethel Cochran's home during the years. After buying her home for $8,000 in 1987, Cochran now owes 14 times that amount -- multiple refinancings larded with commissions have left her with a $116,000 mortgage she can't repay."

"Her latest lender took a $30,000 loss on the house. Her neighbors are losing money, too: Foreclosures drop the value of nearby homes."

The Daily Herald from Illinois. "In DuPage County, auctions are held at the sheriff's office in Wheaton twice a week because of the increased number of foreclosures lately, compared to once a week last year."

"In the Northwest and West suburbs, 6,662 households received foreclosure notices from January through September. That amount exceeds the full year of 2006, which had 6,428, according to data provided by Kaneville-based Record Information Services."

"When auctioneer Mary Lee Kopp got to the Winfield property, she announced the opening bid at about $308,000. Having no bids for the Winfield property, Kopp said, 'I now declare this property sold' back to Washington Mutual Bank."

"As many as 25 homes can sell in one day, said Peggy Rinck, sheriff's department civil division supervisor. One auctioneer had done the job before. Now two more people are needed to assist with the paperwork."

"'We're just barely able to keep up now,' Rinck said."

"Crystal Neubauer wants others to know how she lost her Grayslake home. She contends she and her husband fell through the cracks of a corporate lender that had grown too large, that didn't have enough workers to help them with mortgage problems."

"'My husband got laid off, and we kind of went through a period of time with one financial blow after another,' she said. Last fall they missed a payment."

"They had considered selling their home when prices were still strong but were not sure where they could move. They also thought things would work out once they got jobs. Then the housing market slowed while the Neubauers' loan issues increased. It seemed impossible to them to sell the home for even as much as they owed on it."

"Eventually, Randy Nosalik of GNR sold the home in what is called a short sale because it was for less than the mortgage. He negotiated with Wells Fargo to accept the lower price."

"The home was sold for around $138,000 in September, Crystal Neubauer said. The mortgage had been about $168,000."

"'They accepted in the long run thousands less than what we owed them. It doesn't make sense. It was appraised before this whole thing started for $214,000 to $220,000,' Neubauer said."

USA Today reports on Illinois. "As in many college towns across the country, the real estate market in Champaign is sheltered from the highest peaks and lowest troughs of the national housing cycles."

"Between July and September, sales of single-family homes were up 9.4% over a lackluster third quarter last year, while prices edged down slightly."

"In any market, there are always strong and weak pockets, and in Champaign, condos have taken a beating. Only 116 condos were sold in the third quarter, down from 141 in the year-ago period. Prices, meantime, plummeted 23%."

The Star Tribune from Minnesota. "Even though foreclosure prevention counselor Melissa Hansen's job is busier, it's gotten easier of late. In early October, the company handling a client's mortgage suggested simply subtracting $21,000 off her client's $121,000 mortgage debt."

"Ocwen Financial went on to suggest a permanent cut in Thomas Stroud's interest rate to 8 percent, even lower than his initial teaser rate, so the building maintenance worker could manage the monthly payments on his north Minneapolis home, which otherwise was headed for foreclosure."

"'I would like to say all this happened because I was so savvy and wonderful, but quite frankly the company just offered it,' said Hansen."

"Counselors say that, at least occasionally now, they're breaking through servicers' previous logjams. Cheryl Peterson, manager of (a) foreclosure prevention program, said in recent months they're getting loan modifications for 20 percent of clients. That comes as their work has increased. Already they've worked closely with 206 homeowners this year, up from 152 in all of 2006."

"Lenders' backs are against the wall. With so many interest rates adjusting higher, sometimes for people who can no longer afford the lower rate, and housing prices stagnant if not declining, refinancing is out of reach for many, Peterson said."

"Mortgage services have said their investors will sue them if they modify mortgages. Mortgage-backed securities come in all shapes: Some are all-principal; others, all-interest; some are high-grade, low-risk; others, the opposite. Given that variety, any changes servicers make will mean losses for some and not others."

"And the losers will call their lawyers, the servicers said."

From WDIO.com in Minnesota. "We've all heard about the foreclosure problem in the United States. The Northland is not immune to the problem. In fact, 1,000 homes in Saint Louis and Douglas County alone have gone in to foreclosure in the last two years."

"The number of foreclosure cases is shocking. 1,000 foreclosure cases in Saint Louis and Douglas County in two years. A look at civil court records show people from all over The Northland in all price ranges."

"Realtor Michelle Lyons says there is a foreclosure near you. "I have them in Denfeld, Lincoln Park here in Piedmont, Lakeside, Proctor and I also go down to Kettle River, Askov."

"Saint Louis County has seen almost 400 foreclosures this year. Douglas County has just over 150 foreclosures. By the end of 2007, over 1,000 foreclosures are expected in the two counties alone."

"As a financial counselor, Dan Williams has counseled many people facing foreclosure. 'In this area for instance there's been a huge proliferation of sub-prime loans in the Duluth, Grand Rapids even in the Hibbing area.'"

"A study by The Minnesota Housing Finance Agency says 21% of sub-prime loan holders in Duluth are at least two months late. That's one out of five. The Minnesota Mortgage Association says almost every one of them will end up in foreclosure."

"Foreclosure sales can be bad news for everyone else on the market trying to sell. There is a lot of home sale competition. Today, there are over 200 homes for sale in Douglas County. 1,600 homes for sale in Carlton, Lake, northern Pine and Saint Louis counties."

"Williams says all homeowners are affected by the sub-prime issue."

"This house in the Piedmont neighborhood is owned by the bank. It's been on the market for six and a half months. The original $140,000 price has been cut $10,000 and there's still no offers on the table. 'It's a drastic impact on the value of your home,' he said."