The Hattiesburg American reports from Mississippi. "A local developer in October halted construction on a Lamar County subdivision, leaving behind remnants of a planned community, an indication that some woes of the national housing market are being felt in Hattiesburg. Robert Neill of Neill Development in Hattiesburg said he finished six of nine phases of Chapel Hill subdivision before he notified residents he wouldn't be able to complete the 315-lot project."

"'It came to the point where I was just financially unable to continue building and decided to finish what projects I had under way,' he said. He partially blamed the national housing slowdown. 'Certainly everything has slowed down,' he said."

"'The community has been left unfinished,' said resident Michael Moore, who said that several empty lots, unfinished homes, broken curbing and mismatching mailbox posts debilitate the development."

"'And I'm concerned he won't finish. I fear one, it will decrease the value of our homes having the subdivision incomplete, and also, I look at it from a buyer's perspective and worry about being able to sell our home. I wouldn't want to buy a home with the subdivision looking the way it does,' he said."

"Sue Gallaspy, president of the Hattiesburg Area Association of Realtors, said the Pine Belt has taken a hit because of an excess of available houses."

"'We look at the local market, and it has softened a little because we have more inventory than we've had in the past,' she said. 'It's taking a little bit longer (to sell homes) now, but we're seeing prices more like they were pre-Katrina.'"

The New Orleans City Business from Louisiana. "'Tough' is how David Gilmore, a Kenner real estate expert, sums up the New Orleans-area residential real estate market. According to the New Orleans Metropolitan Association of Realtors, it took a lot longer to sell a home in October than it did back in October 2004."

"With homes taking longer to sell, some agents are holding auctions to move stagnating properties. Gilmore, president of Sperry Van Ness/Gilmore Auction, said many sellers have not been satisfied with residential auction bids."

"'There are still buyers in the market,' Gilmore said. 'We had bidders at every one of our auctions for 12 different sales three weeks ago. But I’ll tell you, on the residential homes, there was a price differential between which the sellers were willing to accept and the buyers are willing to give, and that tells you we have market issues.'"

"Of the 12 properties Gilmore’s firm featured three weeks ago, three homes did not sell because the sellers rejected the offers, he said. There was a 30 percent average difference in what the sellers wanted and the buyers offered."

The Houston Chronicle from Texas. "Based on new and existing home sales, local economist Barton Smith says about 37,000 adjustable-rate mortgages — or ARMs — will reset by year's end in the Houston area, jumping to 50,000 next year."

"Across Texas, of the estimated 91,600 subprime ARMs that had yet to reset as of the end of September, 66.8 percent will do so in 2008, with the biggest chunk coming due from March into the summer, according to estimates from First American LoanPerformance."

"Without the federal assistance, Smith and other experts predict high foreclosure and delinquency rates through next year, peaking in the summer."

"While freezing rates helps lenders spread out their bad loans over an extended period of time, 'sooner or later those interest rates have got to go up. It doesn't solve the basic problem,' said Smith."

"Callie and Morris Brooks haven't been able to make their monthly mortgage payment of nearly $1,000 since it went up by about $300 earlier this year. They've received letters saying the loan is in default and that their northeast Houston home will go into foreclosure."

"When the couple bought the house, they said they weren't aware of how and when their payments would go up. 'We didn't understand,' said Morris Brooks, who is on disability. 'It was our first time buying a house.'"

Business Week reports on Texas. "Homeowners started losing hold of their homes years before spiking foreclosures and the housing slump slammed the economy."

"Piece by piece, some gave away their homes by tapping equity to take cash out to pay for cars, weddings and vacations. Others never owned one brick. During the country's most recent housing boom, the term 'homeowner' became a misnomer as lenders offered 100 percent or more home financing to some buyers."

"Catherine Alexander, who lives near Plano, Texas, first dipped a toe into home equity before taking a plunge. After her husband died four years ago, Alexander moved to Texas to be closer to her children, buying $172,000 four-bedroom house with life insurance money."

"For more than a year, she shredded countless home equity checks sent to her unsolicited by Beneficial, a member of HSBC Group. She finally cashed one for $6,000 to meet expenses after being unemployed for over a year. That in turn led to phone calls from Beneficial recommending a larger equity loan."

"At the end of 2005, Alexander took out a $50,000 equity loan to pay for day-to-day expenses and charges related to her son's wedding. To satisfy that loan and to pay off her Ford Escort, she took out another home equity loan the next year, this time for $93,000."

"Alexander put her home on the market in May after her home and loan expenses became too costly. Even though she felt lured into the loans, she also blames herself."

"'A lot of it has been my ignorance and being naive about my finances and in trusting people,' she said. 'I shouldn't have had a loan that size for my income and I should've been more reasonable in the house I needed.'"

The SMU Daily Campus from Texas. "'There are always periods of excess. Everyone in the industry could see what was happening. The rules of the whole housing industry have changed,' said Tony Dona, founder of Thackeray Partners, a real estate private equity fund."

"Dona said there were two insanely dangerous things going on before the crash. 'Firstly, floating rate mortgages, and secondly, not requiring purchasers to put money down for funds borrowed.'"

"These two factors allowed people to purchase homes who they would have otherwise been unable to do so. Now that interest rates have increased, these borrowers are unable to pay their mortgages. They simply cannot afford to keep their homes."

"Some people are drawing comparisons between today's home foreclosures and the real estate crash of the late 1980s. Experts believe this is not the case. 'The '80s crash was a direct result of job loss. In this go-around, salaries haven't decreased or disappeared, but mortgage prices have increased,' said Chuck Dannis, an SMU real estate professor."

"Others think rapid condominium development in Uptown, Victory Park and Downtown may pose a threat to the already weakened real estate market."

"'There has been a demand for condos because people could buy them for the same amount they could rent. If lawmakers tighten up the mortgage standards, there won't be anyone to absorb condos being built,' said Ben Brown, a real estate contractor and developer based in Fort Worth."

"Homeowners who were forced to default on their mortgages will also be able to spurn growth in the rental market. This should help the increasing condominium market. 'Rental housing is already a pretty healthy market, and now [people whose homes were foreclosed on] will again become renters,' said Dona."

The Dallas Morning News from Texas. "City government mustn't waver in its commitment to revitalizing downtown Dallas through direct investment, public tax subsidies and partnerships with the private sector, Director of Economic Development Karl Zavitkovsky told City Council members Wednesday."

"His recommendations came while presenting council members with a broad proposal for building on the center city's recent and rapid growth; growth that also has caused its own set of challenges, such as soaring housing prices and inadequate transportation options."

"In recent years, City Hall has infused the center city with hundreds of millions of dollars in property tax abatements and direct cash incentives. Such money is largely credited in sparking the conversion of numerous vacant office buildings into residential towers and attracting retail that didn't exist even earlier this decade."

"But widespread private investment downtown that isn't subsidized remains elusive, Mr. Zavitkovsky acknowledged."

"Mayor Tom Leppert said the city must honor a de facto pact with downtown residents to turn their environs into a true neighborhood filled with amenities such as parks, retail services and security."

"'We don't want them to be pioneers with arrows in their backs,' the mayor said."

"The city's downtown plan appears ambitious and well-conceived, said John Crawford, president and chief executive officer of DowntownDallas, which represents center city business interests."

"'It reinforces the necessity of moving forward quickly,' Mr. Crawford said. 'It's also realistic in saying we cannot be all things to all people and we have to approach development on a very strategic basis, and we need some strong, short-term successes.'"

"David and Mary Anne Alhadeff have called 1505 Elm St. home for two years and love easy access to downtown restaurants, the Arts District and Urban Market – the only supermarket in the center city."

"Still, Mr. Alhadeff feels the city could do more to make both residents and visitors feel more secure."

"'Dallas needs more police down here on the streets, particularly at night,' he said. 'And I think a year or two from now, it'll be like a real city, where if you wanted to make a day of it, you could.'"

The Albuquerque Tribune from New Mexico. "Before the foreclosure crunch really started to hit the nation about six months ago, finance counselors at United South Broadway Corp. in Albuquerque received about three calls a month from people looking for advice."

"Now, the phone rings 20 times a day with calls from all over New Mexico, said the group's executive director, Diana Dorn-Jones. 'We've been doing lots of foreclosure counseling,' she said. 'Lots and lots and lots of it.'"

"Between July 2006 and June of this year, Valencia County had been about twice the national average in foreclosure rates, according to Realtytrac. New Mexico has also seen its foreclosure rate rise. Since October 2006, foreclosures in the state have gone up about 44 percent."

"'Our Consumer Division keeps track of this stuff, and all the trends they are looking at say it's finally going to hit New Mexico in the next couple of years,' said Phil Sisneros, spokesman for the state Attorney General's Office."

"That's in part, experts say, because the once-popular adjustable rate mortgages are starting to rise, at a time when housing values are going down. 'You're going to be getting a higher payment, and your home is worth less,' he said."

"Valencia County, just south of Bernalillo County, in recent years has seen a boom in new housing that generally is more affordable than in many parts of Albuquerque. It's also home to many subprime loans."

"'If we look at Valencia County and what the poverty rate is and the increase in what's supposed to be affordable housing, it's a perfect storm for people to lose their houses,' said Ona Porter, executive director of an Albuquerque group that works to help low-income New Mexicans save for a house."

"A similar storm is brewing on Albuquerque's West Side, Porter said, for many of the same reasons."

"While going into foreclosure can be tough for the homeowners, it can also affect neighbors, Dorn-Jones said. 'You may not be in trouble, but when five, six, seven homes on your block are foreclosed, your value goes down, and you haven't done anything wrong.'"