The Star Exponent reports from Virginia. "The bleeding continues. In the past six weeks - from Nov. 1 through Dec. 12 - 46 homes went into foreclosure in Culpeper, according to the commissioner of the revenue’s office. For the most part, the town foreclosures occurred in the newer housing developments. Marcus Bulmer, with Piedmont Homes of Lakeview, like other real estate professionals, attributed the high rate of foreclosures to the 'criminal' and 'unethical' lending practices of national lenders attached to national builders in which people were approved for loans that they couldn’t realistically afford."

"'Rather than how much do you make it was how much home do want?' said Bulmer. 'There was always a new program. It became almost cliché.'"

"'It was a panic pace,' he said of the boom of a couple years back, 'and nobody ever stopped to reflect on what they were doing,' including the new homeowner. 'These are people in their 20s or early 30s and it was a very emotional time for them. They heard what they wanted to hear - it was their own fault.'"

The Capital News from Maryland. "Robert Worcester remembers a time when he rarely saw a Pennsylvania license plate on Interstate 83 near his Baltimore County home. And if he did, 'you could just assume it was someone driving through,' said Mr. Worcester, a Baltimore native."

"No more. Mr. Worcester, president of Maryland Business for Responsive Government, said 'it's at least 50/50 now' between Pennsylvania and Maryland license plates on I-83 at rush hour. He added that, while rush hour used to be a breeze, now 'you can expect to go around three to five miles per hour' at some spots."

"Mark Goldstein, an economist for the Maryland Department of Planning, said it was likely that many Marylanders are keeping jobs here and migrating across state lines to take advantage of cheaper real estate prices in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Real estate agents in neighboring states say Marylanders are crossing the border in their housing search."

"Jerry Pilgrim, a real estate agent just across the Maryland border in York County, Pa., estimates that 80 percent of his clients are Maryland residents, who can find a 4,000-square foot house in Pennsylvania for the cost of a town house in some Maryland counties."

"'I've got people commuting all the way down to the D.C. area, some as far as Reston,' Va., Mr. Pilgrim said."

"He said sales to Marylanders have slowed recently, but not because of problems in Pennsylvania. 'We're having to deal with renters because owners are not able to sell their houses,' Mr. Pilgrim said."

The Times Leader from Pennsylvania. "A group of Dakota Woods residents attended Tuesday’s board of supervisors meeting to ask for help in getting their townhouse subdivision completed. The developers have abandoned the site, residents said, leaving 30 homes left to be built and numerous infrastructure deficiencies."

"The residents stopped paying the maintenance fees to the developers because the money wasn’t being used towards maintaining the development. For the past several months, the residents have pooled their money to have the roads plowed, they told the supervisors."

"One resident, Rod Azar, who’s owned his unit for a year, said developers 'over-built' and spent too much on the first units."

"'They didn’t have enough cash flow,' he said, adding that the balance of the loan that the investors took out to finance the project well exceeds the value of the property."

"Township solicitor Tom Brennan said that since Dakota Woods is a private subdivision, the township couldn’t take over the roads and maintain them. Brennan...advised the residents to consult with an attorney who specializes in real estate."

The News Journal from Delaware. "Last month, Dilsheimer Communities launched its latest pitch to boost sales: Buy one of its homes, and the builder will cover the first year's mortgage payments. It has attracted only a little interest, said Thomas Dilsheimer, VP of the Bala Cynwyd, Pa.-based company, which is developing LakeShore Village beside Garrisons Lake near Cheswold."

"And it hasn't been nearly enough to offset other factors dragging down the slowest market for new houses in decades. 'The market is depressed, and there are too few buyers with too many houses to choose from,' Dilsheimer said. 'It's pretty severe.'"

"Two to three years ago, he couldn't build houses fast enough."

"'It was too hot,' he said. 'If a buyer walked in the door and didn't buy, he knew the next guy in the door would.'"

"The evidence of the market's depression is stark. The number of building permits issued in Delaware this year is down 40 percent from the peak in 2004, according to figures from the U.S. Commerce Department."

"'Many buyers who would be in the market are on the sidelines because they can't sell their existing homes,' Dilsheimer said."

"Benchmark Builders president Steve Bomberger said the current slump is a healthy correction, albeit a painful one."

"'If you ask me about the good old days of '04 and '05 when we were selling houses like pencils on the street corner, I was uncomfortable with it from the beginning,' Bomberger said. 'It was unsustainable. You can't manage a company at that pace.'"

"Delaware has a glut of existing homes on the market. So far this year, there have been fewer than 50 home sales for every 100 homes on the market, according to data from the region's MLS. By contrast, there were about 75 home sales for every 100 homes listed in 2003."

"Some builders have promoted their homes like car dealers shouting about huge blowout sales, especially for houses they've already built. Sandy Greene, a broker with Seacoast Realty in Bethany Beach, said some have held weekend sales with $100,000 discounts on $400,000 homes, just to clear out their inventory."

"'The big-name developers came down and went full tilt on everything they did, and then the market stopped,' said Tim Rhodes, a broker in Bethany Beach. 'Now they're all in the same position of having lots of product and looking for ways to market it.'"

"Most incentives have been on builders' most expensive homes, since those are the ones experiencing the slowest sales."

"Rebecca Seweryn, an economist who studies Delaware for Moody's Economy.com, said builders' incentives obscure the actual price of a house. 'It makes it harder to gauge the real value of these homes,' she said."

"Dilsheimer said builders have to offer incentives to counter the drumbeat of bad economic news that buyers are hearing. 'When people read day after day how the market is down, they put their hands in their pockets and are much less willing to spend,' he said."

The Montclair Times from New Jersey. "Although they had yet to uproot the 'for sale' sign from their front lawn, Megan Hencinsky and her husband decided Monday to pull their Grove Street house off the market after it had not sold for four months."

"When they first put it up for sale in August, they asked for $619,000 for their 1954 colonial, but gradually they rolled back the price to $529,000, slashing the figure multiple times along the way."

"'I can’t even tell you how many times,' said Hencinsky."

"According to the National Association of Realtors, existing home sales are expected to hit 5.67 million by the end of the year, the fifth-highest number on record, but a decline from the 2006 total: 6.48 million sales. That year marked the twilight of an eight- to 10-year boom in the market."

"Anthony Wizner said he saw the slump approaching in 2005, as inexperienced investors began speculating on land and residential property across the nation, but especially in 'hot' markets such as Las Vegas, Nev., and Florida."

"Their goal was short-term: Buy, flip and make fast, easy money. 'Everybody wants a quick buck,' said Wizner, who owns A.B.A. Home Remodelers in Clifton."

"Wizner watched as sellers in Montclair and the surrounding area put more than half-million-dollar homes on the market and, within 24 hours, received offers for $100,000 above the asking price. Never in his life had he seen so many people lining up to, in effect, drive up the cost of a house."

"Adriana O’Toole, broker/owner of Montclair Realty, said that during the housing bubble, buyers could purchase a house and pour money into overhauling it, yet still make a profit, since over time 'the market caught up to them.'"

"Investors gambled on residential housing that had not even been built yet. Buyers put money down to get their names on a 1 1/2-year waiting list for a new home, and eventually flip the prospective dwelling to the next person down the list for a profit, said Drew Fishman, president of the New Jersey Association of Realtors."

"Wizner, the contractor, had seen these circumstances before and knew what came next. 'It was pretty wild back then,' said Wizner. 'I knew the party was about ready to end here.'"

"Amid the craze, financial institutions made it possible for borrowers to buy property without a down payment."

"In addition, banks failed to adequately scrutinize the credit risk being presented by mortgage applicants, partly to save on the cost of digging into credit histories, but also since they were caught up in the general 'speculative mindset,' said Phillip LeBel, an economics professor at Montclair State University."

"Lenders rationalized that even if they foreclosed on chancy customers’ mortgages, they could sell the houses and still make money — an assumption that proved to be false once the slump struck, LeBel said."

"In this market, Realtors 'have to counsel our sellers on how to best maximize their equity,' said broker Bernard McNichol. They might recall what neighboring properties sold for and have difficulty accepting that their home won’t be purchased for that price today, he said."

"Also, people need to take more of a long-term view of home ownership, McNichol said. They should think of their houses as places to live and enjoy their lives, rather than considering them short-term investments and wondering how much the properties appreciated over the course of the year, a consideration that can be 'angst-ridden.'"

From Newsday in New York. "During the second half of this year, Long Island's economy has progressed along two distinct tracks: Even as fundamentals like employment, job growth and occupancy rates in commercial buildings indicate stability, the housing market has fallen into a tailspin, dragging every related industry down with it."

"As home prices and sales have dropped, new home construction has fallen off and foreclosures have risen dramatically. And local mortgage lenders, including American Home Mortgage in Melville and Delta Financial Corp. in Woodbury which have both filed for bankruptcy, have laid off thousands of employees since August."

"Underperforming mortgages granted to high-risk borrowers spread through the financial services sector, bringing down not only subprime lenders but also institutions that had invested in their mortgages."

"Between October 2006 and October 2007, Long Island lost 2,300 financial services jobs, according to Pearl Kamer, chief economist for the Long Island Association."

"In August alone, more than 10,255 workers in New York State were laid off, according to job placement firm Challenger Gray & Christmas. The report only includes publicly announced job cuts, so the real numbers are higher."

"Most experts say there's no end in sight. In a recent research note, industry analyst Paul Miller wrote that as consumers take out fewer mortgages in the next year, the industry will have to eliminate another 130,000 jobs 'to bring production levels in equilibrium with employment.'"

"According to Challenger Gray CEO John Challenger, 'Nobody knows what the extent is going to be. .. 'This situation is unprecedented.'"

"He compared Long Island's situation to that of the auto industry in Detroit: Nobody wants to leave, but the industry is struggling and there is a glut of qualified people struggling for every open position."