The Rocky Mountain News reports from Colorado. "New home construction in the Denver area last year fell to its lowest level in 16 years, as builders cranked down on construction because of a sluggish and overbuilt market. Permits for single-family homes dropped 34 percent to 10,986 in 2007, down from 16,263 in 2006, the Home Builders Association of Metro Denver said. A record 20,420 permits were pulled in 2005."

"Denver-based MDC Holdings, in a recent SEC document, said it cut its work force in half at the end of 2007, from its peak two years ago. And MDC, parent of Richmond American Homes, sold and closed only 818 homes in Colorado last year, a 44 percent drop from the 1,463 it sold in Colorado in 2006."

"'It is tough out there,' said Roger Reinhardt, executive VP of the Home Builders Association of Metro Denver. 'It wouldn't surprise me if we've lost 10,000 jobs, or even beyond that,' from peak employment, he said."

"Economist Patty Silverstein said that an estimate of 10,000 lost jobs seems too high, but she said no good data exists that tracks the home-construction market. She said a drop in home construction spreads to related businesses ranging from furniture to granite countertop and tile and carpet companies."

"'There's going to be some short-term pain. But on a macro level, this is exactly what needs to happen. We need to whittle down the unsold inventory to help stabilize prices for existing homeowners,' Silverstein said."

The Gazette from Colorado. "Colorado Springs’ upscale housing market remains fit, even as it’s gotten fat. A slowdown in sales has swelled the inventory of $1 million-and-up homes on the market to a more than four-year supply, according to one estimate."

"The Re/Max Properties report showed a roughly 55-month supply of $1-million-and-up homes for sale in the Pikes Peak region. A year earlier, the figure was about 30 months."

"The report also shows a nearly 34-month supply of homes priced from $750,000 to $999,000, and a 17.4-month inventory of $500,000 to $749,000 homes."

"Many people from California or other areas with more expensive housing move to the Springs and find they have enough equity in their old homes to afford an upscale property here, said Stuart Scott of Stuart Scott Ltd., who compiled figures from the Pikes Peak Association of Realtors."

"'People who are buying these houses are not satisfied with buying the less desirable house,' Scott said. 'They buy the best house and when they buy the best house, they pay the top price.'"

"'We still see a lot of money out there,' said Dirk Gosda, California-based Sunrise Co.’s Colorado president. 'The high end, we still see people buying homes in California. They see it as better than stocks and bonds.'"

The Albuquerque Tribune from New Mexico. "Home sales in Albuquerque declined almost 20 percent in 2007, to 10,671. But the Realtor association says that might be a result of market stabilization - 2005 and 2006 saw housing booms that simply could not continue, realtors say."

"'We saw years of 16 percent growth, and those were nice years, but that's hard to sustain,' said Janice McCrary, the association's CEO."

"Michael Sivage, an Albuquerque builder and developer, said building permits are down more than 50 percent from the boom of 2005, but still more than double than in 1990, the low point of the last housing market recession."

"The MFA report shows the median home price in Albuquerque - at which half the homes cost more and half cost less - was $200,000 last year. That means a family of four needs to earn $62,345 a year to afford the house. But the median household income in the city last year was $55,900."

"'And if the incomes are only moderately increasing - 2 or 3 percent - and home prices are increasing at 10 percent, then that gap continues to spread,' Sivage said."

"'Are there buyers that are a little skittish? Yes,' said Cathy M. Olson of Prudential Sandia Real Estate, who prepared the realtors association report. But that's due more to to 'media campaigns that the sky is falling.'"

"Erin Quinn, the MFA's senior policy and program adviser, said the rewards of homeownership remain."

"If a home's value rises 7.5 percent a year, she said, 'that's better than a lot of stock. And this isn't just an investment. This is the place you are coming home to at night and making memories and having birthday parties.'"

The Arizona Republic. "Suzanne Lostaunau can still laugh about her Scottsdale Ranch home being unsold after nearly 10 months on the market. And that's after cutting the price by a hefty 9 percent."

"But she is eager to sell and recently got some high-profile help. Donna and Shannon Freeman, the mother-daughter hosts of the HGTV cable series Secrets That Sell, came to central Scottsdale to film a segment on Lostaunau's 2,500-square-foot home."

"The Lostaunaus' inability to sell is not unusual in a Scottsdale housing market that saw sales fall 20 percent in 2007 from the previous year. The Valley has more than 46,000 resale homes on the market, with 7,770 in the Scottsdale area, according to a recent report."

"Last April, the Lostaunaus listed their home for sale at $660,000. They have had about 30 showings since then. A few potential buyers were interested. But no one has closed a deal."

"So what's the problem? 'For one, I don't have a pool,' Suzanne said. 'After that, I don't know. The price is reasonable, and Realtors all love it.'"

"It may be four months before the Lostaunaus home is featured on Secrets That Sell. Suzanne said she is looking forward to her TV debut. 'The truth is I probably wouldn't have done it if I wasn't so desperate to sell my house,' she said."

"Nearly forgotten in this struggle to sell the Scottsdale Ranch home is the appreciation on the property. The Lostaunaus bought their home for $290,000 in June 2002."

The Christian Science Monitor on Arizona. "The state of Arizona and all its cities and towns are confronting huge revenue shortages this year, mainly because sales-tax revenues are far below projected levels. In fact, Arizona has the dubious distinction – along with California, Nevada, and Florida – of leading the country in the current economic slide."

"'Those four states are where the housing bubble was the biggest, where investors and speculators had a significant presence,' says Marshall Vest, an economist at the University of Arizona's Eller College of Management in Tucson. 'Those states saw a higher use of subprime mortgages. These are the states that have been in recession for several months already.'"

"Consumers in Arizona, Dr. Vest says, lived beyond their means for the past seven years. It was easy for them to tap the equity in their houses and to get very low interest rates on credit cards."

"So when the housing bubble burst, housing prices declined, along with the equity homeowners enjoyed, and banks began to tighten up on credit. That meant people had much less money to spend."

"'In addition to that, we had 6 percent employment growth just two years ago. Today it is essentially zero,' Vest says. Arizona's economy peaked in August and has been shrinking ever since, he says. It's been in recession, he adds, since the third quarter of 2007."

The East Valley Tribune from Arizona. "Queen Creek's plan to cut $5 million from its budget due to a slow housing market will hit several town departments. The 'potential budget gap' comes from a lower-than-projected number of new-home permits - from about 500 originally anticipated to less than 275 permits now expected this fiscal year."

"At the height of Queen Creek's building boom, fees from more than 1,200 new-home permits would hit the town's coffers in a year, Assistant Town Manager Patrick Flynn said."

"Queen Creek has the highest per capita municipal debt in Arizona...$7,671 for every resident."

"'To bring infrastructure to the community is expensive stuff - that's just the way it is,' Flynn said. 'It's impossible to do those larger projects without going into debt.'"

"And as Queen Creek expects less revenue due to a slow housing market, the town will take on $40 million more debt this year with the purchase of Queen Creek Water Co."

"'We're down to (new-home construction) permit levels that are just about a break-even to cover the debt,' Flynn said. 'We build up reserves and other backstops to help with that. But we're in an anomaly. People will still be coming to Arizona, and before you know it we'll be back on the growth train.'"

"About two-thirds of Gilbert's debt goes toward major street, water and wastewater infrastructure projects, town spokesman Greg Svelund said. 'Which of those things do you want to get rid of?' he said."

The Review Journal from Nevada. "All but five of 61 ZIP codes in the Las Vegas Valley showed depreciating home values in 2007. The biggest drop came in ZIP code 89169, where median home prices slipped 24 percent from $275,000 in the second half of 2006 to $210,000 in the second half of 2007, housing analyst Larry Murphy of Las Vegas-based SalesTraq reported."

"Also hit hard were ZIP codes 89146, down 22 percent to $222,450, and 89085, down 20 percent to $336,150."

"Overall, the median price of an existing home in Las Vegas decreased 4.3 percent to $275,907 based on 23,956 sales in 2007, according to SalesTraq. For December, the price is down 11.2 percent from a year ago at $253,000."

"Tony Silva of TRG The Realty Group said: 'For me, it's no shock of what's happening. I told everybody and nobody would believe it. Prices are still going down. Look at the figures. The figures don't lie. It's going to come back, but people have to realize they're not going to get the prices they want for their house. Prices are going to be back where they were before this surge started in '04.'"

"Declining home prices bring an upside. Francisco Jimenez was able to buy two condominiums for $105,000 and $111,000, well below the $185,000 median, at separate foreclosure auctions held in December."

"He picked up a third condo at a Feb. 10 auction, paying $140,000 for a 1,200-square-foot unit with attached garage that previously sold for $243,000."

"'This is like the stock market. Buy low and sell high,' Jimenez said. 'There is opportunity for lower-income people to buy, if they can't afford $250,000 for a home but they have a job and good credit. It's a good opportunity for anyone who has the money. I would buy another 10 if I had the money.'"

The Las Vegas Business Press. "Home buyers looking to purchase units at Sky Las Vegas, One Queensridge Place and Panorama Towers won't be running to BankUnited for a mortgage. The Florida-based bank has named those projects and others in a blacklist of 191 luxury condominiums across the country for which it will no longer write loans."

"Declining market value, high investor concentration and structural-based litigation are reasons for being blacklisted, the company said."

"BankUnited also looked at delinquent homeowners' association dues, rising foreclosures and its own exposure in the over-saturated condo market."

"'The projects blacklisted in Las Vegas are all great projects,' said Sam Cherry, developer of Newport Lofts and SoHo Lofts, which are named in the blacklist. 'It's easy for a bank that puts out so many nonperforming loans to say they're not going to do it anymore.'"

"Almost 70 luxury high-rise projects were planned in Southern Nevada last year, totaling 45,616 units, reports Restrepo Consulting Group, a local real estate research firm. However, only 10 of those projects have broken ground; and, 27.5 percent have been suspended or canceled."

"Yet, luxury condos are still hot sellers that command big bucks, Restrepo reports. Almost 90 luxury condos were sold in 2007 with a median price of $502 a square foot. It marks a 4.9 percent increase over the previous year."

"In Nevada, licensed real estate agents are seemingly as numerous as video poker machines. But unlike slots, most Realtors aren't making very much money."

"'Not making money? There's blood on the desert,' said Bill Ochs, owner of Nevada Mortgage."

"'This slowdown in the housing industry is deeper and more long-lasting than most had predicted,' said Jeanette Cobb of Windmill Realty. 'Things are so bad, I've been told half the real estate agents have deserted the industry. Some 6,000 of them moved on.'"

"Nevada Real Estate Division records indicate otherwise. But state sources say they expect many will not renew their licenses when their two-year anniversary date arrives."

"Such a scenario has already occurred among the ranks of state-licensed mortgage agents. According to the Nevada Mortgage Lending Division records, 6,722 mortgage agents have active state licenses, but more than three times as many -- 27,170 -- have licenses that are closed or inactive."

"'In the home building industry, we do have our own real estate sales agents, and our industry has laid off thousands in recent months,' said Monica Caruso, spokeswoman for the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association."

"Margaret Westcamp, a Las Vegas Realtor, said she's stopped mentioning her profession to shuttle drivers when she returns home from business trips and vacations."

"'I swear, it seems every time I mention to the driver that I'm a Realtor, out would come the loan officer business card,' Westcamp said. 'They're not servicing loans. They're driving vans and limos.'"

"The Southern Nevada Home Builders Association's Caruso said many people have forgotten that the housing market is coming down from the biggest and most unprecedented boom in sales and price appreciation in the nation's history."

"'Anyone old enough to remember gas lines, 'stagflation,' the savings and loan crisis and the mini-recession of 1991 knows these things come in cycles,' Caruso said. 'We are simply coming down from a boom that never could have been sustained.'"