The Telegram reports from Massachusetts. "The state’s housing market, reflecting the national scene, is a mess. Sales and prices have been in a downward slide since early 2006, and economists say it isn’t over. There is an abundance of supply, and the record foreclosure rate is dumping more properties onto the market each week, cramping prices even further. Judy Leonelli, owner of Century 21 in Mendon, said a lot of good properties are sitting because potential buyers are nervous or waiting for prices to drop further."

"'I think a lot of people have been sitting on the sidelines, particularly in this marketplace,' she said. 'I don’t know if they think someone will blow a whistle only buyers will hear, to get them out there.'"

"A 2,800-square-foot house in Mendon recently sold for $449,000. A house of the same size and nearly exact amenities in the same town sold for $538,000, she said after pulling sales records. 'There’s not anything significantly different, and I think this one that just got sold is nicer,' Ms. Leonelli said."

"She pointed out another house in Uxbridge that she showed a few months ago, but did not sell. The 2,634-square-foot house was built in 2005, loaded with amenities, and sold that year for $570,000. It recently closed at $395,000, she said."

"'I showed it at $425,000,' she said. 'That’s a classic example of the kind of opportunities out there.'"

"Scott C. and Christina M. Pulicari of Uxbridge are trying to sell their home and purchase a newly constructed home in the same town so they will have more room for their sons. When Mr. Pulicari sold his last house seven years ago, it took less than 24 hours, after only three people looked at it, he said."

"His current home has been on the market since late September, and he has lowered his asking price from $319,900 to $309,000. Unable to get an offer, he has had to pass up on making offers on another house, he said."

"'The new house was originally listed at $459,000, but is now $399,000, he said."

"He said he will not consider paying the buyer’s closing costs or throwing in a flat screen television. 'I work at a supermarket. My wife cleans houses. I don’t want to give things away. We did a lot to this house. I put new appliances in the kitchen, a tile backsplash, some new floors,' Pulicari said."

"He said he does not feel anxious over possibly missing the opportunities of reduced prices and low rates. 'I do get a little frustrated, but there’s nothing I can do about it,' he said."

The Telegraph from New Hampshire. "Six months ago, it looked like New Hampshire was faring better than most states in the mortgage-industry meltdown. That's what experts were saying, and the numbers seemed to back it up."

"But by year's end, New Hampshire had fallen close to the middle of the pack in terms of foreclosure and delinquency rates, according to just-released figures."

"'I think it simply took a little bit longer to hit our area,' said Gina McCulloch, northern New England regional manager for Mortgage Network Inc. 'I saw it hit Massachusetts quicker than it hit New Hampshire. But it's heading north.'"

"By March 5 of last year, there were 95 foreclosures on record. But by March 5 of this year, there were 156, according to the Hillsborough County Registry of Deeds. Thirty of the to-date foreclosures were in Nashua."

"'No, I don't find it surprising, because the loans that were written that should not have been written,' McCullough said. 'The credit crunch and delinquencies are absolutely continuing to become worse.'"

The Hartford Courant from Connecticut. "The housing recession in Connecticut deepened in January, with sales of single-family houses dropping 29 percent, compared with the same month a year earlier, and the median sales price of homes dropping by the largest percentage since 1995."

"The market slowdown has spread through every part of the state, including Hartford County. The last time sales dropped by such a large percentage during a single month was in July 1989. It is the fifth month in a row in which Connecticut housing sales have dropped by double-digit percentages."

"'The market sucks,' said John Zubretsky, president of Century 21 Access America, based in Wethersfield, with 14 offices in Connecticut and Rhode Island. 'Anyone who claims this is a good market is fooling themselves. Inventory is just so high, and there is a perception out there that this is not a good time to sell a home.'"

"'Connecticut spent most of 2007 defying the downward trends in neighboring states, at least when it came to prices,' said Timothy Warren Jr., CEO of The Warren Group. 'But 2008 is starting out on a different foot, and there's probably more to come.'"

"At the same time, the inventory of homes for sale jumped. In January, there were 4,838 single-family homes for sale in the Hartford area, a 6 percent increase from January 2007 and an almost 70 percent increase from January 2003, according to the Greater Hartford Association of Realtors."

"In other words, there are now about two or three buyers for every 10 homes for sale, said Rob Giuffria, a broker in Farmington."

"'I'm telling my sellers, 'If you don't have to sell, wait,' Giuffria said. 'It's just not a good time to sell. However, if you do have to sell, you have to price appropriately.'"

"'I just worked with a buyer this weekend who is selling a $600,000 house in Southington and bought a $1.3 million home in Farmington — a cash deal, no mortgage,' Giuffria said. 'Will he be able to sell that house in Southington? I don't know. Some towns are going to continue to do well, and others are going to fall off the cliff.'"

The Providence Journal from Rhode Island. "Rhode Island’s real-estate market in January continued to deteriorate. The median price of a single-family house in Rhode Island fell 12.8 percent compared with the previous January — nearly three times the rate in Massachusetts — to $235,000. That marks the largest monthly decline in Rhode Island house prices since the Warren Group began tracking the market in 1989."

"Until now, the price declines could be blamed partly on the large number of properties being repurchased by banks at foreclosure auctions."

"The Warren Group’s latest report, however, attempts to more accurately measure the market by excluding from its calculations all properties that banks repurchased at foreclosure auctions, sales between family members and other 'non-arm’s length' sales because they tend to distort the statistics, said the research group’s data analyst, Alan Pasnik."

"'In a small state like Rhode Island, month-by-month numbers do not always indicate trends,' CEO Timothy Warren Jr., said in a statement. 'But we have seen declines in single-family home sales hover around 20 percent for the past five months, and monthly price drops leading up to January have been pushing toward 10 percent.'"

The Times Herald Record from New York. "Orange County home sales plunged last month to the lowest level since at least 2001, according to the Orange County Association of Realtors."

"The 99 sales completed in February represented a 37 percent decline compared with the same month of 2007. The median sale price of $297,000 was 7 percent lower than a year ago. Ulster County's median price slipped nearly 7 percent to $225,000, according to the Ulster County Board of Realtors."

"The extent of the carnage surprised OCAR Chief Executive Ann Garti. 'It was almost as if, because our numbers were still up (last summer), we weren't comprehending the extent of the fallout,' Garti said."

"Orange County homes are taking longer to sell, and sellers are knocking more off their list prices in order to close deals, according to OCAR data. Builders have lopped tens of thousands off their asking prices and are still struggling to unload inventory."

"Several vendors at the home show said they've increased promotions and emphasized value to keep customers coming in. Competition is intense. 'At one point, there was food for everybody, and now there's not," said Matthew Wilhelm, president of EKB Kitchen and Bath, which operates showrooms in the Town of Wallkill, Kingston and Beacon."

"The competition is good news for homeowners looking to remodel. Like buyers shopping for homes, they have more options, and can play one supplier or contractor against another."

"Helga Weiss of LaGrange, for instance, is in the market for a kitchen remodel. 'I'm trying to get an idea where I can get the best deal,' Weiss said after looking over Kitchen Elegance's stock."

"Then she turned to George Loussedes, owner of Kitchen Elegance in Clinton Corners, Dutchess County. 'You don't give a senior discount, do you?'"

The Sharon Herald from Pennsylvania. "Mercer County sheriff’s sales for home foreclosures in 2007 continued at a torrid pace of 354 houses — just three shy of the all-time record set the prior year. Compared to 1995, this marks more than a 10-fold increase." "The situation is even worse than those numbers indicate, said Mark Thompson, housing director for Shenango Valley Urban League."

"'A sheriff’s sale is the most extreme point in a foreclosure,' Thompson said. 'About one-third to one-half of foreclosed homes have gone to sheriff’s sale. The rest have gone through foreclosure but the homeowner found some way to resolve it.'"

"'Nobody is talking of things improving or a turn in the numbers yet,' Thompson said. 'It’s a very scary thing.'"

"In addition to bad lenders, Tina Beecher, a housing caseworker for Community Action Partnership of Mercer County, said she has clients who lacked financial know-how and bought more of a home than they could afford."

"'These are people who just buried themselves in debt,' she said. 'They aren’t making the mortgage payment first. Instead they’re taking care of their credit card or car payment.'"

"Ms. Beecher tries to work a payment arrangement between her clients and a lender to allow homeowners to keep their house. Most lenders are willing to deal — but not all. 'The toughest are subprime lenders with call centers overseas,' she said. 'They’re foreign-owned. If they put an American out of their home they couldn’t care less.'"

The Beaver County Times from Pennsylvania. "In Pennsylvania last year, there were 34,089 foreclosures. That figure dropped from 38,333 foreclosures in 2006, but was well above the 28,650 in 2005, according to RealtyTrac."

"The percentage of households affected was highest in Philadelphia, at 0.86 percent. Lawrence, Dauphin, Westmoreland and Beaver counties rounded out the top five."

"In January, said Daniel Murrer, vice president of RealSTATs, the Pittsburgh regional housing market was the slowest in seven years, with the number of sales dropping 18.4 percent compared to January 2007."

"In Beaver County, Murren said, 84 more families lost their homes to foreclosure between 2006 and 2007, a 22 percent increase. 'That’s bad news any way you look at it,' Murrer said."

"Ed McLaughlin, owner of Bovard-Anderson Co. in Beaver, acknowledged that the local housing market 'is in a cycle like the rest of the country. It goes up and down.'"

"Yong Staughton has been casually trying to sell a house on Highland Avenue in Baden for about a year now. Once in a while, someone will be interested in it, but she said there haven’t been any serious nibbles in quite some time."

"'What are you going to do?' Staughton said. 'You just have to wait until the right person comes along.'"