A report from the Idaho Statesman. "Four area home builders and three investors stuck with seven vacant luxury homes have decided desperate times call for desperate measures. They're going to try to sell their homes, originally priced from $900,000 to $1.7 million, at an auction March 1 in Meridian. The auctioner says homes will be discounted up to 40 percent - although there are no minimum bids, and the owners can reject even the highest bids if they aren't satisfied."

"'We have had housing auctions before, but not seven luxury homes at one time,' said Phil Hoover, an associate broker in Boise. 'That's what makes it significant. It goes to show that the higher you go in price, the softer the market gets.'"

"Three of the homes are in Star, two in Middleton and one apiece in Boise and Eagle. Of the 449 homes sold in the Valley in January, only five were in Star and eight in Middleton, according to the Intermountain MLS."

"MLS figures also show that Star has a 42-month supply of homes, and Middleton a 15-month supply based on January's sales rate."

"'It is interesting to note that six of the seven homes are in the hardest-hit areas and price range for oversupply,' said Shaun Tracy, an associate broker in Boise. 'Once again, this speaks to overbuilding in the wrong location.'"

"Tracy said that even though the owners reserve the right to refuse the highest offer, they could also decide to take it thinking that 'it's the best I'm going to get.'"

The Oregonian. "Portland-area homeowners can still smile about home values, but sales trends suggest a frown will break out soon. The inventory of unsold homes rocketed to nearly 13 months' worth of sales in January. That's up 50 percent from December and the highest since record-keeping began in 1998. The previous high was 10 months in January 2000."

"Brokers say they've already had to talk sellers into starting prices 5 percent to 10 percent lower than they'd like. The troubles, though, are with buyers: They're not buying. The number of January sales fell off nearly one-third from a year earlier."

The Gazette Times from Oregon. "Housing prices in Corvallis gained a little ground in January, but the market continued its sluggish pace at the first of the year. Emboldened buyers were making low offers and seemed prepared to wait for incentives from sellers as more houses pop up on the market."

"'There are sales taking place, but I tell people this isn’t a place where you’re going to get multiple offers,' said Alan Deitch of Raising the Bar Real Estate. 'If you’re going to sell your house, you’ve got to be the best option out there.'"

"In Corvallis, the number of active real estate listings increased during the course of the month. There were 213 homes on the market during the first week of January. By the first week of February, that number had grown to 224."

"Mid-range and higher priced homes are sitting on the market, as homeowners seem less likely to be thinking about upgrading even with mortgage interest rates declining. 'There’s not the enthusiasm we’ve had in the past,' Deitch said. 'Without enthusiasm, we could have interest rates at 1 percent and it wouldn’t matter.'"

The Bend Bulletin from Oregon. "A string of new buildings, some empty and others half-filled, line this city’s light-industrial corridor — a reflection of what happens when a slowing economy collides with too much speculative construction, according to property owners, and real estate and economic development representatives."

"A downturn in Central Oregon’s housing market has contributed to a weakening in demand for industrial space by companies in businesses related to housing construction, those observers say."

"'Redmond’s industrial market got too big for its britches in 2007,' according to the report. 'The simple fact is that new building construction supply exceeded the demand by a factor of three.""

"Developers are not in panic mode, but another year without filling their spaces would hurt, said Eric Batha, who built 32,000 square feet of industrial condominium space in the Pioneer Industrial Park. So far, the development has not sold any units."

"'There are a lot of tire-kickers, a lot of people on the fence that are taking a wait-and-see attitude,' Batha said. 'There’s a creepy feeling about the economy. Nobody wants to jump in and have it be a mistake. They want to wait it out and see what happens.'"

"The market has slowed for two reasons — supply and demand, Prince said. 'Housing-related companies have pulled back because of the slowdown in the residential market and a fair number of (industrial) spaces are already on the market,' Prince said. 'There’s a lot to pick from.'"

"Potential buyers of Batha’s condominium units include plumbers, electricians and secure storage companies — the type of businesses that are hurt by the slowing housing market, Batha said."

"One owner of 16 industrial condominium suites in the Pioneer Industrial Park is offering to pay the first two years of a mortgage on six of the suites that would lock in the buyer as the owner, said broker Steve Larsen."

The News Times in Oregon. "Veronica Vasquez, the senior loan officer at Family Equity Group in Hillsboro, said that since the housing bubble burst last year, her work has shifted. While she used to help people buy new homes, she’s now helping homeowners get out of the existing mortgages."

"But with about 50 percent of clients coming to her with bad credit due to late mortgage payments, her hands are often tied, making her play the part of credit counselor."

"'I just go and talk to the banks directly and try to negotiate, to try to lock the rate and try to help them keep the same loan,' Vasquez said."

"RC Hernandez, the owner of Family Equity Group, said that it’s difficult to turn people away at the door of his mortgage firm when there’s little that can be done. 'It’s tough feeling helpless because you think there’s got to be something you can do,' Hernandez said. 'Sometimes selling isn’t even an option.'"

"The flood of loan troubles has Hernandez and other mortgage brokers inundated with people seeking help. 'There are mounds of applications from people who needed something to happen yesterday,' Hernandez said."

"Ted Troutman, a Beaverton bankruptcy lawyer, said his workload is up over 50 percent from last year. He’s working not only with people who have lost their homes because of the subprime mess, but also with people who are out of a job because of the bad economy, which is tied to the collapse of the housing market."

"And, things may get worse before they get better. In 2006 1,057 subprime loans were signed in District 29. By the end of 2009, most of those will have jumped to a much higher interest rate and many of the homeowners will likely be looking for a way out."

"'We’re going to see twice the applications that we saw during the peak of the housing market,' Hernandez said grimly."

The Peninsula Daily News from Washington. "Publicity about mortgage foreclosures is scaring people out of building or buying houses, a builder, a banker and two real estate agents said Monday."

"'We do not need this,' said Kevin Russell, waving a copy of Monday's Peninsula Daily News and its front-page story about local sawmill layoffs driven by weak housing sales."

"'Why do we let the media drive our lives?' asked Russell, the head of the president of the North Peninsula Building Association as he addressed the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce's membership luncheon."

"They might seem bad, though, to the nearly 300 workers temporarily idled from the Inferfor Pacific and KPly mills in Port Angeles and nearly an additional 100 at Portac mills in Beaver and Forks. Another mill, Port Angeles Hardwood, has temporarily cut its daily operating hours by 20 percent."

"And the number of houses priced below $200,000 in Port Angeles has increased 24-fold, according to agent Brooke Nelson. Only three such houses were on the market in December 2005, she said. Today there are 73 in Port Angeles and another 130 across Clallam County."

"'It's amazing to me what's available,' Nelson said."

"Should someone build or buy a house, he or she can expect it to double in value over the next seven to 10 years, said Dan Gase, president of the Coldwell Banker Uptown Realty, citing the history of housing prices in the city."

"Gase went so far as to suggest investing in a house as a way to finance a child's or grandchild's college education."

"Gase said the slack market won't last forever. 'There's a huge demand beginning to build up here,' he said. 'You don't really have to wait for the feeding frenzy. Have faith in our community. Don't think about the short term.'"

"That short-term chaos in the mortgage market, said Roger Kelso of First Federal Savings & Loan Association, is due to 'a perfect storm' of 'unbridled enthusiasm' by investors. It also was caused by companies putting homebuyers into mortgages they had no hopes of affording when the loans' interest rates rose, said Kelso."

"'You're seeing communities that are decimated by foreclosures,' he said."

"The burst bubble in home construction and sales has resulted in more contractors available and eager to work, Russell said. 'For those of you who were looking for a contractor at the height of the boom,' he said, 'now is a great time to call.'"

The Columbian from Washington. "Waiting to buy a new house in Clark County? Local builders say now is a good time to do it, and they’re spreading the word with a new ad campaign and event to showcase their products."

"In April, a tour of more than 30 new homes will wrap up the 'Buy New Buy Now' promotion launched this month, according to the Building Industry Association of Clark County. The group is sponsoring the $80,000 campaign, being paid for by nine local home builders, along with Parr Lumber, Riverview Bank and Countrywide Financial."

"The advertisements urge buyers to consider low mortgage interest rates and reduced new-home prices, said Morall Olson, VP of the 1,050-member building industry association. 'We want to get the word out that it’s a great time to buy,' he said."

"The TV and radio spots also downplay the notion that home values could continue to slide in Clark County. A total of 312 new and pre-owned homes were sold here in January with a median price (half for more, half for less) of $245,383. It was a 7 percent decline from the median price of $263,900 for the 517 homes that sold in January 2007."

"The cooling market has kept buyers riding the fence, said Olson, owner of a Kalama-based custom home builder. 'The reports create a perception of uncertainty for anybody looking to buy or sell. It scares them,' he said."

"The number of homes for sale here climbed to a 12.7-month supply in December, according to the Portland-based MLS. 'There’s no doubt in my mind we’re going to work off some of this inventory,' said Jon Girod, president of Vancouver-based Quail Homes. 'The bad news is behind us. We’ve got to stay focused on what’s ahead.'"

The Bellingham Herald from Washington. "This is the time of year when bids are being requested for large public and commercial projects, so local construction companies are trying to figure out how many projects to pursue and the level of competition they can expect."

"While residential construction is expected to slow down significantly this year, workers should be fairly busy on commercial and public projects. 'Housing construction has been a boom-and-bust kind of industry as long as I’ve been in this business, but commercial is much more steady,' said Steve Isenhart, co-owner of Tiger Construction."

"'Commercial and custom home projects seemed to be coming along at about the same pace (as previous years), but condominium and apartment projects have really fallen off,' said Dave Christensen of Christensen Design Management."

"Some projects, particularly in residential, have halted as financial institutions have become more cautious about lending money. 'You see projects stall in residential that haven’t been tried in Bellingham, such as the condo towers,' said Myles Donnelly of Franklin Corp."

The Seattle PI from Washington. "The Seattle skyline will change, as will the central business district, with the construction of a twin-tower, 43-story building planned for a half-block site across Fifth Avenue from The Westin Hotel."

"Offering high-end hotel, condominium and office space, as well as deluxe retail space at ground level, developers of the 1.2 million-square-foot building at 1913 Fifth Ave. will break ground next year, said project manager Alec Carlin of Hummingbird Advisors of Seattle."

"Ishmael Leyva, of New York was chosen as architect, 'not because we don't like Seattle designers, but because we feel Seattle is ready for something that's more edgy, more 'out there,' Carlin said."

"'This is a sophisticated design that says Seattle looks not toward Vancouver but toward Chicago and New York,' he said. 'It also says Seattle is ready for higher density downtown, which has happened in Vancouver and in Portland.'"

"Hummingbird hopes to benefit from the sweeping development of South Lake Union, Carlin said. 'We're hoping it will revive that area, which is on the edge of Belltown, and make it into a vital, vibrant pedestrian area,' he said. 'It's a pretty dead block right now.'"

"Though Seattle is awash with condos, Hummingbird said it thinks the market will support more, as the idea of downtown living is catching on. 'Right now, there are no downtown supermarkets or Laundromats, but as the density grows, the services will follow behind them,' he said."

"This might seem like a strange time to bring hundreds of new suburban houses to the market, but the folks who work for developer Murray Franklyn don't seem worried. 'It was in an area that we strategically knew wasn't oversaturated with inventory,' Murray Franklyn partner George Reece said."

"In January, the inventory of houses for sale in the Redmond area was up almost 60 percent from a year earlier, while sales were down nearly 40 percent, according to the Northwest MLS. Countywide, inventory increased about 56 percent and sales dropped almost 31 percent."

"Put another way, there were enough homes on the market last month to satisfy eight months of sales at the January pace in the Redmond area and 7.5 months countywide."

"The slowdown didn't deter Jill and Dan Hanken from agreeing to buy a home in Redmond Ridge East."

"'We felt like this was where we wanted to live and that was the house we wanted. We just didn't want to risk it being sold,' Jill Hanken said."

"She said she also felt confident they'd be able to sell their current home."