The Chicago Tribune reports from Illinois. "Robert Gabriel never imagined he'd end up living in a virtual ghost town. Gabriel moved into an Antioch subdivision in April, before builder Neumann Homes declared bankruptcy last month. Now, he said, he worries about vandals, thieves and nasty critters creeping around his property, especially at night. Streetlights aren't installed, roads aren't paved and half-built homes stand as stark symbols of the builder's financial woes."

"'It's been like living in a ghost town since we moved in,' Gabriel, said as he pointed to the skeletal frames of unfinished homes. 'It can get scary when it's dark out.'"

The Courier News from Illinois. "The high number of foreclosures in the Fox Valley cannot always be explained simply, as area lawyers and detectives are discovering. Details of a local multimillion-dollar mortgage fraud scheme have unfurled in federal court."

"According to his plea agreement, Luis Uribe would use the 'names and identifying information of former clients' with 'good credit histories' to obtain mortgages for people who otherwise would not qualify for a loan."

"Elgin Police Department Detective Jim Roscher got his first inkling of the scheme in October 2005, when a woman, Olga Trejo went to officials to report a case of identity theft. Trejo had moved to Georgia, and was trying to sell her Elgin home, Roscher said."

"'Washington Mutual had called her and asked her where her mortgage payment was. It was late,' he said. When Roscher and Trejo looked at her credit report, they found four extra mortgages, from four different mortgage companies, listed there. 'All the sudden, she owns houses up here she never bought.'"

"Trejo owed $551,000, according to the credit report, he said. Released on bond, Uribe went to Florida, where, court documents show, he was arrested on Sept. 5 for the same fraud crimes he committed in Elgin."

The Journal Reporter from Illinois. "Park Ridge, Niles and Rolling Meadows have all seen foreclosures climb over 100% from 2006 to 2007, according to the RealtyTrac."

"Jeff Metcalf's company compiles data on foreclosures, and he's followed the developments. He said while we've heard a great deal about the sub-prime mortgage crisis and unscrupulous mortgage brokers, that doesn't tell the whole story."

"'The programs that were available for people to finance homes were more numerous than ever before. Home ownership has been at an all time high, 65%, over the last five years, and so you're going to get more foreclosures.' Metcalf said."

"Metcalf said the housing boom gave people the impression that skyrocketing property values would make up for the amount of money they were having to borrow. In some cases, he said, people didn't even have to verify their income to take out a loan."

"'The sub-prime crisis, it's all we hear about,' said Metcalf. 'That's what gets ratings. This daily, hourly pulse is going to make us all insane. The solution is going to be like any other financial problem we've gotten into in this country, it's working through it. Let the market work, it'll work itself out, it always does.'"

"Metcalf said when he talks to realtors, they say prices are going back to 2004 levels, and that eventually the housing market will turn around."

"Another factor in the foreclosure situation may be investors buying multiple properties with the intent of 'flipping' them or selling them at a profit later. 'Quite frankly, a lot of the homes that are in foreclosure are investors,' Metcalf said. 'These investors just extended themselves.'"

The Detroit Free Press from Michigan. "By springtime, many homeowners in metro Detroit could face an unwelcome and seemingly improbable trifecta: Higher taxes, lower home values and shrinking services. Many communities are anticipating reduced property tax collections in 2008 because of the foreclosure crisis. "

"Angry reactions are likely when assessors explain to many homeowners why their taxes will increase even as housing values have plunged, said Robert Daddow, deputy Oakland County executive."

"'Explaining that to people is going to be very, very hard,' said Frank Audia of Plante Moran, an accounting firm that advises dozens of local governments."

"New development has been stalled or canceled, said Finance Director Todd Drysdale. The city invested more than $1 million to buy and clean an old industrial parcel for a development of 80 homes. After putting up 12 homes and selling just three, the developer has stopped."

"'We also have four to five other condo projects that have stalled,' said Drysdale."

The Daily Herald from Wisconsin. "Although there currently is a buyers' market for housing in the Wausau area, people considering selling their homes shouldn't be scared off by what they hear and read in the national news, local real estate agents say."

"'For high end homes, over $400,000, the market is saturated in inventory. It's a matter of supply and demand. It's not necessarily a bad market, there's just too much inventory,' said Heath Tappe, president of Main St. Homes of Wausau."

"Competition has brought down home listings here to fair prices or slightly in favor of buyers, said Tappe, who has seen more flexibility in pricing recently than ever before. The company likely will build about eight to 10 'spec' homes, starting next spring, he said."

"'We see where there is a hole and then try to find lots we can build on in that price range,' Tappe said. 'The existing homes that we do are generally in that lower price range, $100,000 to $250,000, and that seems to move well.'"

The Capital Times from Wisconsin. "Dane County home sales dipped again in October, reflecting a downward trend in the market."

"The Realtors Association of South Central Wisconsin reported that October sales of houses and condominiums reached 362, reflecting a nearly 14 percent decline from the 412 reported a year ago and about 44 percent below October 2005."

"Foreclosures in Dane County hit a record high in October at 101 filings, 38.3 percent more than the 73 from October 2006."

"Projections show that this year's total sales will reach those of 2002, according to association Executive VP John Deininger, an all-time record at that time."

"It's customary, according to Deininger, for home sales to decline in the fall and early winter period. This year's lower decline suggests 'renewed confidence' in the market on the part of consumers, Deininger said."

"'We have weathered the 'mortgage meltdown,' the foreclosure statistics, the national press and still have a consumer base that believes that buying a home is a great investment and lifestyle enhancement,' stated Deininger."

"The fifth annual First Business Economic Survey of Dane County conducted by the UW School of Business released today showed continued optimism among most local executives. But it also reflected the national economic slowdown."

"Nearly 4 in 10 respondents said the housing slump has hurt their bottom line."

"David Ward, president of Madison-based North Star Economics, said the slowdown in home building and home sales affects many sectors. 'It runs deep into all areas you normally don't think about like plumbing supplies, the guys who sell carpet and lay it, painters, wallpaper,' said Ward."

The MinnPost from Minnesota. "A bike ride down Chicago Avenue in Minneapolis feels like a tour of an abandoned city. Foreclosures have decimated a 10-block area of homes, duplexes and condos. A few blocks away, giant 'buy here!' banners wave in the wind and do dances of desperation on downtown condo facades."

"Minneapolis condo owners, in particular, are getting pummeled as the subprime mortgage saga unfolds, prices continue to fall and the glut grows."

"Minneapolis now has a four-year stock of condos, according to a recent report by Metrostudy, a housing market-research firm. The 13-county Twin Cities area is suffering from serious condo overdose as well: There are 4,608 brand-new condos on the market and more than 3,000 previously owned units for sale, according to Metrostudy. That adds up to a 30.8-month supply of condos for the entire area."

"Given the current slump, expensive condos will likely wind up empty for a while. Even if you could afford to snatch up one of the thousands of vacant spaces (just 49 of the 1,044 brand-new condos on the market in November were under $150,000), according to the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors, the new requirements make it such that you'd have to perform various acrobatic acts just to get approved."

"Take, for instance, Sam Osterhout, who has a credit score of 780, a well-paying full-time gig, and was willing to put down around 37 percent of his condo's value. He simply wanted to move into an uber-modern window-filled condo on Washington Avenue that smells like fresh paint and new shoes."

"His loan process, which began in mid-August, became such a hassle that his first mortgage consultant quit, saying he couldn't find a single lender in town who could guarantee a closing."

"So why were banks turning away such a stellar candidate as Osterhout? Because Osterhout was buying into a downtown Minneapolis condo building that is zoned 60 percent commercial and 40 percent residential. Even Osterhout's wad of cash and payment history couldn't keep banks from running from him like emus under attack."

"Condo sellers aren't faring much better. Paul Stepnes spent more than $500,000 restoring a building overlooking Lake Calhoun. He turned the duplex into two high-end condos."

"The pristine condos, reduced since they first went on the market by as much as $200,000, have been sitting vacant for more than a year. 'We're going to have to sell them at a loss; we do realize that,' says Stepnes, whose rehab work has appeared in magazines like Midwest Home. 'What else can you do? They're at a great price. It doesn't make sense.'"

"Buildings with even as little as 10 percent in rentals are considered risky. Yet in an effort to not eat dirt, many developers are turning those could-be condos into rentals. The result? Further exacerbation of the condo glut."

"It's worse for condo owners trying to sell: 'A building that has more than 15 to 20 percent commercial-use is also higher-risk because of the number of businesses that fail,' says Ronny Loew, a mortgage banker in Edina. Put another way, you're considered more of a loan risk if you have what 'could' amount to lousy neighbors."

"Add investor concentration — where investors still own a large share of the units — to the volatile mix of cut-and-run neighbors, appraisal rules and increasing rentals, and the problem swells. 'Investors still have control of so many buildings,' says Vince Hunt, a senior mortgage consultant in St. Paul. 'That makes it much harder for owners to sell.'"

"So, how many condos 'sold' in the Twin Cities currently are investor-owned? That's the million-dollar question. 'There's no way we can know that,' says Ryan Jones, the Twin Cities director of Metrostudy. 'That's a national question. Everyone wants to know that.'"

"Yet another neighbor issue is compounding the condo problem. If a neighbor is forced into foreclosure or has to sell quickly, it affects the price of every condo in the building. And foreclosures show no sign of abating any time soon. In the third quarter, there were 2,363 foreclosures in Hennepin and Ramsey counties, according to RealtyTrac. That's a 102 percent increase from the same time last year."

"Experts predict the current glut will reel us into the 1980s condo crisis all over again, when the excess left behind a string of unsold condos and loan defaults that caused downtown home prices to sink deep into the Mississippi."

"But so far there is one glaring difference between the two decades of condo-a-plenty: Few of the condo leftovers this time around could be refashioned as affordable rentals. According to the Realtors Association, nearly 70 percent of the newly built condos in Minneapolis are priced at $250,000 and above."