The Boston Business Journal reports from Massachusetts. "A report issued Monday on the Bay State housing market finds sales dipped in 2007 to their lowest level in over a decade, but a separate group contends that the year was still strong when based on historial figures. There were 50,435 single-family home sales in Massachusetts last year; about 5,000 fewer than in 2006, and the first time since 1992 that sales were that low, according to The Warren Group."

"Single-family home sales in 2007 fell 8.4 percent from 55,054 in 2006 to 50,435. During December, sales continued the sharp decline that has been evident in every month since September, and fell 23.3 percent from 4,074 in December 2006 to 3,123 in December 2007, the report stated."

"The median price for single-family homes in 2007 also declined, falling 4.6 percent from $325,000 in 2006 to $310,000. The median price of homes sold in December saw the largest drop all year, falling 10.5 percent from $309,000 in December 2006 to $276,568."

"Another report from The Massachusetts Association of Realtors, which does not include homes listings that are for sale by owner, painted a more optimistic picture."

"'There is no question that 2007 was a challenging year for the real estate market for many reasons, yet people continued to buy and sell homes on a daily basis,' said MAR President Susan M. Renfrew. 'When you take a step back and look at the year in historical context, it was actually pretty good.'"

The Boston Globe from Massachsuetts. "Homebuyers lured by cheap prices took Route 2 into Fitchburg and Leominster at the height of the housing bubble a few years ago. Longtime residents displaced by those newcomers followed Route 2 west to buy homes in rural towns like Athol and Orange."

"Now the towns along Route 2 and west of Interstate 495 are among those with the highest rates of foreclosures in Massachusetts, according to the Warren Group."

"'Our incomes here are much lower than they are in the Boston area. People were stretching to buy homes,' said Mark Dohan, director of the Twin Cities Community Development Corporation in Fitchburg."

"In 2006, for example, the Fitchburg-Leominster region had the seventh-highest number of subprime mortgages in the nation, 187, that went delinquent just three months after the borrowers closed on their loans, a Mortgage Bankers Association study released last year found."

"'People bought their homes and immediately stopped paying for them,' Dohan said."

"'You see rising foreclosures because of falling house prices,' said Prabal Chakrabarti, director of community affairs for the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. 'People borrowing to the margin and people lending to the margin, that's the population that, when house prices go down, goes into foreclosure.'"

"In 2002, Christine Mackie bought a 150-year-old, two-story Cape with an attached barn for horses in Townsend on the New Hampshire border. Her mortgage was $178,000, but as the years passed, the house skyrocketed in value and she refinanced twice, to $268,000, to generate extra cash from her equity."

"When Mackie split up with her boyfriend in 2006, she realized she couldn't handle her $1,750 monthly payments alone. Her mortgage holder, Ameriquest, agreed to not bring a foreclosure and ruin her credit, if she could sell the house. In late September, she found a buyer who offered $245,000."

"Mackie spent around $40,000 renovating it with her partner. At first she listed it for sale for around $330,000. Eventually Mackie lowered her asking price, to compete on a glutted market. And when the time came to finalize the sale, the bank made sure she had been tough in negotiating the best possible price."

"'They wanted us to prove that we were trying really hard,' said Mackie. 'It was close to a year at this point.'"

The Enterprise from Massachusetts. "Bargains abound as developers respond to a slumping market by slashing prices When the downtown condominium lofts started selling at SoCo146 a year ago, the highest selling price for a two-bedroom, two-bath unit was $214,900."

"Those units on Court Street are now selling from $165,900 to $182,900, and developers say the drop in price is due to a slumping real estate market."

"'We've had to respond to the market. We had to. We're doing what the market is telling us,' said Ellen S. Goldberg, a spokesman for Cathartes Private Investments, which co-developed the SoCo146 property."

"And in the last week, prices on the units have dropped anywhere from $3,000 to $6,000, said Gail Carter, on-site broker."

"What is happening in the downtown condominium market is reflective of condominium sales overall, local Realtors say. 'Citywide, countywide, statewide — condominium sales and prices are down,' said Bernie Hassan, manager of Weichert Realtors-Briarwood Real Estate in Brockton."

"'The saturation in the market place is the reason probably as to why the prices have come down,' Hassan said. 'That would be right cross the board in real estate right now.'"

The Metrowest Daily News from Massachusetts. "Whatever the state of the economy, one thing is clear: consumers are thinking twice before opening their wallets."

"Michelle Walker of Natick said she's cutting out the family's annual February vacation because of of travel costs. 'Wages don't seem to be keeping up with inflation,' she added."

"'We're in for a tough retail stretch here,' Jon Hurst, president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts. 'There are a lot of similarities to 1991 with what's happening in the real estate market place. It is so much of what drives consumer sentiment and how positive they feel about their short and long term, because for most people, their number one asset is their home.'"

"Natick real estate agent Andy Luke of Re/Max Home Finders said the housing decline has thinned out his industry, with colleagues and related mortgage consultants leaving the business. 'I'm enjoying the shakeout in a way, because those agents who shouldn't have been in the business are leaving,' Luke said."

"People who could have sold their homes for $500,000 are now competing with bank-owned properties down the street that are selling for $480,000. That's what's driving price declines for home sellers, he said."

The Hartford Courant from Connecticut. "Petra Unander, who lives in a spacious, four-bedroom colonial in a scenic subdivision high above the Naugatuck Valley, can tell you exactly when she realized for sure that she was slipping out of the middle class."

"It was three weeks ago, on Jan. 4 — the day her latest bills arrived from Connecticut Light & Power and Yankee Gas."

"'I couldn't believe it when I opened those envelopes, because my CL&P bill was $221.15 — $30 more than the month before; and my gas bill was $292.33 — $110 higher than the month before,' Unander said. 'With programmable thermostats that keep the house at 57 degrees all night, and no lights on during the day, I thought that my bills would be going down by now. But I'm just falling behind every month.'"

"So, Unander did what she often does in a pinch — she called her close friend and neighbor, Rachel Huzior. Huzior, a compulsive budgeter and frugal with her money, would be able to tell her what she was doing wrong. 'Well, I nearly had a heart attack when I talked to her, because Rachel's utility bills were even higher than mine — by $150,' Unander said."

"Unander and Huzior were, in a sense, already economic refugees when they met after moving to Naugatuck. In 2005, both had 'surprise' third children after they thought their families were complete, both needed larger houses and both migrated to the Naugatuck Valley to take advantage of better housing values."

"Housing prices in the Fawn Meadow subdivision are in the $400,000 range. The Unanders and the Huziors both are in a supposedly comfortable, almost-six-figure income bracket, and Petra earns extra money by running a home business."

"While transferring money from her savings to her checking account to cover the escrow, Unander realized she had crossed a new financial threshold. In November, Roger Unander's first paycheck no longer covered the mortgage, and Petra began borrowing from savings to cover it, which she now does every month."

"'Some of my friends who live in smaller houses down the hill think we're rich,' Unander's son, Chris said. 'But I tell them, no, I've got to wear my hoodie inside all the time. I'm very aware that my parents are always trying to save money.'"

The Union Leader from New Hampshire. "Personal bankruptcy filings in New Hampshire jumped significantly last year, and bankruptcy attorneys say the mortgage crisis is driving much of that increase."

"Nearly 3,000 Granite Staters filed for bankruptcy last year. And the number of individuals trying to repay their debts through bankruptcy -- known as Chapter 13 filings -- is at the highest level since the modern Bankruptcy Code was enacted in 1978."

"Richard Gaudreau, a Salem attorney who specializes in consumer bankruptcy law, said the mortgage crisis is driving the increases in both Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy filings."

"Typical is the couple he met just Friday, who fell behind when their adjustable mortgage interest rate went up. 'They've got a house they can't sell, they can't afford,' he said. 'What do they do? They're facing a $50,000 mortgage deficiency and they're filing a Chapter 7.'"

"Gaudreau said he's been turning away clients. 'I don't have the staff or the time to handle everybody who needs to file,' he said. 'It's very reminiscent of the late '80s, early '90s, when the mortgage market was crashing. The market's adjusting, the bubble's burst and everybody's trying to go pick up the pieces.'"

"Concord attorney Mary Stewart is also handling more Chapter 13 bankruptcies. 'It's because of housing,' she said. 'They're in default on their mortgages and they're trying to catch up. It's people who have paid their bills all their lives, and they're humiliated to be sitting in my office.'"

"'It's not deadbeats. It's happening to people who never thought they would be here,' she said."

"Gaudreau said some of his clients seeking bankruptcy protection are themselves working in the housing industry. 'I'm seeing appraisers, real estate brokers, mortgage brokers, so many contractors. All these people are dependent on the real estate market and it's having a domino effect.'"

"Londonderry attorney Nancy Michels said most bankruptcy cases she's currently handling are mortgage-related; some people are 'just walking away' from their homes."

"It's rare to find someone with a subprime loan who understood what they signed, she said. 'I have professionals who have gotten themselves into these mortgages who are clearly very bright people, and they just have no concept of what they're really gotten themselves into.'"

The Nashua Telegraph from New Hampshire. "At first, a four-bedroom ranch on Belmont Street in Merrimack with a walkout basement and recent upgrades was on the market for $259,900 – just what the seller needed to recoup what she owed."

"But when the property didn't move right away, and taking the vacant house off the market wasn't an option, the owner steadily lowered the price, said broker Richard Jean."

"It took six months and more than $50,000 in price reductions, but there's finally a pending sale – for $204,900. 'It's called a short sale,' Jean said. 'That's what it took to get it done. And the house is in very good condition.'"

"Flash back to just more than two years ago, and this house probably would have sold quickly and close to asking price, Jean said. That's when the market in southern New Hampshire was hot."

"'You can't expect the market to be the same way it always had been,' said real-estate agent Lisa Waller, of Nashua. 'I can tell you, the media has sensationalized it. New Hampshire's really not doing that bad.'"

"According to new figures from the New Hampshire Association of Realtors, single-family home sales in Hillsborough County took a double-digit hit for the second year in a row in 2007. Sales prices also dropped, but only slightly."

"After a surge in prices from 1998 to 2004 – when the average home doubled in value from $127,500 to $254,702 – the market peaked in 2005 and has since retreated, according to the Association of Realtors."

"All of this is a problem for potential sellers who don't have a lot of equity built up – namely because they purchased a property at peak price just a few years ago and the house is worth less today."

"'The biggest problem today is somebody having to sell something in order to buy something,' said Dave Moran, associate broker in Nashua, adding that more buyers are requesting contingency plans that allow them to back out of a purchase if their home doesn't sell."

"But there's plenty of good news in this market for first-time buyers or anyone who doesn't have to worry about losing money on a sale. There are plenty of houses to choose from in the Nashua market, and they're often selling below asking price."

"Waller said she just closed on a home that went for nearly $100,000 less than the seller originally wanted."