The Daily Press reports from Virginia. "When the developers of City Center at Oyster Point were putting together condo plans a few years ago, builders could pre-sell half the units before they were done. Now the first 54 condos will go on sale at The Point at City Center in January amid a very uncertain market where pre-selling a condo is a miracle."

"The City Center developers are confident in their product and the long-term trends, but they are holding off on a planned 18-story condominium tower called The Meridian as credit markets have fizzled."

"The desire for Peninsula buyers to move into condos rather than buy a home or rent will be severely tested in 2008. The second half of the year has brought a growing deterioration in both median price and number sold, and a new slate of supply will be joining the City Center condos on the Peninsula next year."

"'Most people feel we're going to have to struggle through another tough three to six months,' said William Hudgins, the president of the development arm at Harvey Lindsay, one of City Center's developers."

"The slowing condo sales market prompted Beco Asset Management's request to turn 168 of the 254 condos into high-end apartments in the Windy Knolls subdivision in Denbigh."

"The city of Newport News is fighting the request. City Council members chided the developer for wanting to change a plan that was already approved, and nearby residents raised the specter of public housing — despite the fact that the condos would sell for up to $300,000."

"Jeff Miller, Beco's director of development, is even more pessimistic about the 2008 market than Hudgins. 'I don't see the condo market recovering this coming year,' said Miller. 'At best, it'll be 2009.'"

The Virginia Pilot. "It seemed like the perfect opportunity: a home mortgage lender that required no proof of income, wealth or employment from its borrowers. For Cary McEntee and his company, CM Development, Long Beach Mortgage's 'no doc' loans made it much easier to tap other people's credit to buy houses."

"It was 2004, and soon other national subprime lenders were vying for the company's business. CM Development and its investors received more than $19 million in loans from more than 20 banks over the next 2-1/2 years."

"But by March of this year, more than half of the roughly 250 properties controlled by the company sat vacant and efforts to renovate many had stalled. The company has since been forced into bankruptcy."

"McEntee has testified that the company falsified about 80 percent of these documents. CM Development's case highlights a lesser-known problem: Subprime loans made housing fraud a whole lot easier."

"Earlier this year, a Fitch study of subprime mortgagebacked securities found that roughly a quarter of recent subprime loans were some type of fraud. Other experts say the international credit rating agency's findings are low, and estimate cases of fraud at closer to 50 percent."

"As the real estate market heated up and house values appreciated, the company resold its properties repeatedly between investors - squeezing out more equity and taking on larger loans each time. This continued even though most of these borrowers were not equipped to shoulder so much debt."

"One investor, for example, couldn't afford to buy a home for himself but qualified for nearly $350,000 in loans through the company. A 28-year-old teacher received $722,000 in mortgages on five properties. Two brothers qualified for more than $4.5 million in loans on more than 50 properties, many of which were uninhabitable."

"And a CM Development employee received nearly $700,000 in mortgages while in the Virginia Beach jail on drug charges."

"'The two words everyone forgot was 'due diligence,' said Anthony Sanders, professor of finance at Arizona State University. 'And now, as soon as the party's over, you say, 'Gosh, I wish we'd been monitoring this all along.' There's going to be hell to pay.'"

"McEntee said the banks weren't particularly concerned about the specifics of the company's sales. 'They didn't care where the money came from,' he testified at a federal bankruptcy hearing last month. 'There was such a big push on for the money, they were doing whatever they could to sell those loans.'"

The Herald Mail from Maryland. "It had been a year and four months since Gary and Maggie Schweitzer put their house near Hagerstown up for sale, and they were ready for a break. So they packed the car and headed toward the mountains of New Mexico, where they had long hoped to retire."

"Late morning on the third day, their cell phone rang. It was their Realtor calling with incredible news: Two offers had come in, simultaneously! 'It was very unexpected, certainly,' said Gary Schweitzer."

"Pumped by easy loans, and big city builders and commuters discovering rural communities, area land and house prices had risen rapidly since 2000. But in 2005, a stall kicked in as loan interest rates suddenly jumped, credit standards tightened, (and) foreclosure became a household word."

"Settlement prices in Washington County have fallen from $248,904 for the average home in November 2006 to $207,827 last month, according to Metropolitan Regional Information Systems Inc."

"When they listed the house at $380,000 in late June 2006, they knew the timing wasn't the best. 'We figured selling it would take several months — certainly by October, I thought,' Gary said."

"But by October, even after several showings, there were no offers, he said. So, working with Realtor SuZanne Glocker, they cut the price by $10,000. Still, nothing."

"As Christmas neared, 'we were still optimistic," he said. The months passed and the couple dropped the price repeatedly, but the only offer - about $270,000 — 'was so lowball that we didn't even respond,' he said."

"'...So, I think, hopes began to fade in late spring or early summer.' The asking price was $330,000 in late October."

"The leading offer came from Tim and Ursula Mauro, a young couple who have two children and were renting a townhouse in Frederick, Md. Ursula Mauro thought Realtor Eric Verdi was lost when he turned into Brightwood Acres East and she saw the big lots and big houses."

"'I was like, 'We can't afford anything in this neighborhood,' she recalled. 'Like, 'Did he make a wrong turn?'"

"Verdi knew what he was doing. Housing prices have been falling since reaching record heights two years ago."

"The Mauros made an offer. The Schweitzers faxed a counteroffer from New Mexico and, within a week, they had a deal: The price was reduced to $319,600 and the Schweitzers would pay more than $9,000 in closing costs, Verdi said."

"The contract, signed Dec. 7, gave the Schweitzers $70,000 less than they'd originally been asking, but they were truly delighted, Gary Schweitzer said. It will enable them to build their dream retirement home next spring."

"'We love the West, and if there's a price to be paid for that, then, certainly, yes, we're willing to pay that,' he said. 'Plus, it looks like things (in real estate) will certainly get worse for the near term.'"

From The Record in New Jersey. "While builders can make profits of 20 percent or more during good times, that's far from a sure thing these days. Demand for new homes has dropped...tighter mortgage lending standards have locked many would-be buyers out of the market. Other potential buyers, seeing the market slowdown, are waiting for deals."

"Many developers, including Hovnanian, Pulte and Tarragon Corp., continue to offer discounts or incentives, such as help with a buyer's closing costs or monthly condo fees."

"There have been dramatic price cuts. In Norwood, a subdivision of three new houses went on the market earlier this year for $1.2 million to $1.4 million. Two of the three sold for more than $300,000 off the original asking price; the third is on the market for more than $400,000 off the initial price."

"'There are great deals out there, in my opinion,' said real estate agent Ann Murad in Woodcliff Lake. 'It's definitely a buyers' market.'"

"Still, many potential buyers aren't taking the bait yet. Many believe that prices may have further to fall; or, at the very least, that they won't rise much for a while."

"'Now, there's so much supply that buyers are saying, 'It's a nice house, I really like it, but I don't know, I'll wait and see,' said Richie Wells, president of the Builders and Remodelers Association of Northern New Jersey."

"'There's no sense of urgency whatsoever,' said Murad. 'That's the new market right now.'"

"Tarragon is repositioning two residential buildings in Hoboken, from condos to rentals, said Tarragon President William J. Rosato."

"Tarragon also is trying to get creative with marketing. The company recently allowed an art gallery to host a reception and art show in one of its model units at a new, 16-story condo building in Edgewater."

"'It's a way to bring people to the building,' Rosato said."

"How much would a buyer pay for a new house in Ramsey, with three bedrooms, 3½ bathrooms, a stone facade and high-end finishes such as crown molding and stainless steel appliances?"

"Mike Karvellas, who built the house, used to think the answer was $759,000. But after the house sat on the market for months, Karvellas cut the price again and again. He finally sold it for $659,000, a price that wiped out his profit. But at least he will no longer be burdened by the property's carrying costs, such as taxes and loan interest, of more than $5,800 a month."

"'I'd rather get rid of it and get out from underneath my investment,' Karvellas said."