The Sun Times reports from Illinois. "It is THE single biggest wish in the American dream of home ownership: the 'buyer’s market.' Bill Basic, long time homebuilder and president of the SouthWest Suburban Homebuilders Association, has seen this time come around maybe three times in the past 25 years. 'The time to buy is now. A lot of people are 'down' on housing and the (economic) times, but you can always find some bitterness. People who sit on the sidelines ... if they’re going to sit on the fence, they’re going to be kicking themselves,' he said. 'Once that inventory is down, you will see prices rise.'"

"Lynne Austin, president of the Home Builders Association of Greater Fox Valley, said the 'kick' will come when a buyer sees other people living in 'their' home."

"'Assume people feel the market has bottomed. You’ll be in more competition for that house you’ve had your eye on. Now suppose (the price) fell another $10,000. What does that mean on your mortgage? Another $50 or $60 a month? Is it worth losing that house?,' Austin said."

"'Some people think if they only wait a month or two, there will be a better deal out there,' said Randal Ritke, president of Will-Grundy Counties Home Builders and Associates. 'But I think it has bottomed out. A builder can only discount to a certain point, and I think the builders have bled everything they can bleed. I’ve been through a number of these cycles, and we all know that when it comes back, prices are going to rise.'"

"'I don’t think anybody knows where the bottom is,' Austin said. 'The only way to know is when it starts to rise. And why would you want to wait until it rises?'"

"Buoy said some people are using the 'worth' of their homes from two to three years ago as a benchmark. But it is to their advantage to reduce their asking price because they can take advantage of current market conditions on a new home, he said."

"Ritke provided a general example of the economics of this: You live in a house you value at $300,000 and the house you want to move up to is priced at $500,000. If you give a discount of 10 percent ($30,000) on your house and get a 10 percent discount ($50,000) on the new home, 'you just made $20,000 in equity.'"

"'That’s a good investment any way you look at it,' he said."

"The same economic value that makes home ownership the American dream applies across the buyer spectrum, whether it’s a first-timer looking at a townhouse, a family looking for a spacious four-bedroom in a clubhouse community, or someone looking for a home built exactly to their needs and specifications."

"Basic gave this example: 'In 1991 the average price of a home was $120,000. Now it’s around $246,000. That’s more than double. You can never lose in housing. That’s where all the nation’s wealth is sitting.'"

The Chicago Tribune from Illinois. "For 18 years, Gloria Murtaugh has served as a mediator between residents slipping into foreclosure and their lenders. But never in her career has there been a time like this, she said."

"For-sale signs and boarded-up houses dot many communities, leaving housing counselors such as Murtaugh overwhelmed and depressed at times by the tragic stories they hear day after day."

"'Oh, honey, it's overwhelming,' said Donna Reed, director of Catholic Charities' Daybreak Center in Joliet. 'You have all these people come in, and you want to give them all the assistance they need to keep their housing. But they still can't maintain because the interest rates go up, and they just can't meet it.'"

"In Will County, the number of foreclosure filings increased from 2,742 in 2006 to 3,388 in 2007, a 23.6 percent increase, a Woodstock Institute report shows. Between 2005 and 2007, the number skyrocketed by 79 percent."

"For the six-county Chicago region, the number of foreclosure filings has risen from 21,302 in 2005 to 38,215 in 2007, a 79 percent increase."

"Homeowners call Murtaugh's office, panicked and stressed, looking for guidance. And many times now, there's little she can do. 'I used to make the calls to the banks and lenders myself,' she said. 'But it's too overwhelming now. I tell them where to go and what to say, what to do. There are so many defaults and foreclosures, and it's just difficult to see a positive outcome.'"

"Chicago building owners would be required to secure, maintain and light up their vacant buildings under a mayoral crackdown in the works to prevent the epidemic of home foreclosures from ruining entire neighborhoods."

"The use of plywood to cover doors and windows would be prohibited on buildings vacant for at least six months, under an ordinance introduced by Mayor Daley at this week's City Council meeting."

"A six-month vacancy also would trigger a requirement that buildings either be secured with steel panels or have all windows and doors installed, a functioning security system and an 'active account' with a private security company. Dusk-to-dawn lighting would be required at all exits."

"'The more foreclosures happen, [the more] people are abandoning their homes. If you live on that block, all of the sudden, no one is gonna take care of it. No one has responsibility. It's gonna affect the value of your property, your assessment -- the whole community. It's a crisis out there,' Daley said."

"Vacant buildings must be secured to prevent them from becoming fire hazards and magnets for crime, the mayor said. 'They just tear the plywood off the back and they go in the back or the basement window.'"

"The number of home foreclosures in Chicago shot up 46 percent last year --to 14,250, according to a study by the National Training and Information Center."

The Journal Gazette from Indiana. "The nation’s housing woes have seen almost a quarter of the nation’s ZIP codes blacklisted for certain types of loans by mortgage insurance companies, including most of the Fort Wayne area and parts of Wells and Whitley counties."

"Some local real estate professionals see the stricter regulations as long overdue self-policing by the mortgage insurance industry."

"While the flagged areas will make it more difficult for some borrowers, Joe Weigand, president of Weigand Mortgage, calls them 'extreme measures for extreme times' that the industry should have employed five years ago."

"Shelly Reberg, a mortgage loan originator at Star Financial Bank, agreed that the industry needed stricter guidelines such as closer analysis of appraisals. The changes in the industry have had the effect of real estate professionals helping buyers look more closely at what they can afford."

"'We are no longer originators; we are counselors,' she said."

The Vindicator from Ohio. "Stricter mortgage standards that mean lenders are (gasp) verifying borrowers’ financial information. The difference between the March 2008 housing market and the March 2006 market is like night and day."

"Here’s a before-the-boom-and-after look at the housing market."

"Then: No down payment? No problem. Now: Show me the money. Then: Want it? Make an offer they can’t refuse. Now: Take your time. Then offer 10 percent less. Then: Lots of debt, little income? That’s OK. We won’t check anyway. Now: Nothing will get past us now."

"During the boom, some buyers pounced on houses during the first showing, skipping home inspections and bidding up the price to get in. But now, 'home buyers can definitely be patient,' says Edina Realty Realtor Kelly O’Neil. And with some good price data for the neighborhood, buyers can successfully offer less than the seller’s asking price."

"Some companies were putting borrowers in home loans without verifying income sources and lending money to people with debt payments that ate up half of their before-tax pay. Today, borrowers should try to reduce what they owe so their debt-to-income ratio is no higher than 40 percent."

"It’s like we stepped in a time machine and went back to the mortgage standards of a decade ago. Minnesota Mortgage Association President Tim Bendel said 100 percent financing has all but disappeared."

"And don’t even think about fudging your financials. 'You can’t tell us you’ve got $50,000 in the bank,' said Bendel. 'We’re going to want to see it.'"

The Detroit Free Press from Michigan. "Metro Detroit had a staggering 18.9-month supply of homes for sale at the end of 2007, and some cities were swamped with four years or more worth of housing inventory that people are desperately trying to sell."

"Sales prospects in many spots are grim. Huntington Woods had a 45.7-month home supply, and Oakland County had a 20.2-month inventory overall, according to listing data released last week by Real Estate One in Southfield. Detroit had a 51.1-month inventory of homes listed."

"Don Grimes, a University of Michigan economist, said buyers are here but they are waiting for prices to hit rock-bottom before they buy. Family formation is still going on. Once they start buying, inventories will fall to normal levels, he predicted."

"'From what I am able to tell, it may be getting down to the bottom in the Detroit area,' Grimes said. 'People need to see that prices have hit bottom so they won't be kicking themselves six months from now.'"

"One of the biggest reasons for the oversupply is that sellers overpriced their homes, Grimes said. That seems to be the issue in Huntington Woods, said Greg Barnas, an agent in Royal Oak."

"'A lot of what is still out there in Huntington Woods is still overpriced,' Barnas said."

"Betsey Rubel isn't worried about selling her 2,086-square-foot home on LaSalle Boulevard. The four-bedroom, two-bath home has been listed since January for $299,900. The Rubels, who want to move to Bloomfield Township to be closer to their daughter's school, paid $220,000 in 2001."

"'We're not in a time crunch,' said Rubel. 'When our house is ready to sell, it will.'"

"Rubel said she has seen houses linger on the market in the city over the past several months, but she said she believes some of them have been overpriced -- like one down the street that sat for about a year, listed at more than $800,000."

"Charlie Lutz, a realty agent in Roseville, said it's all about price. He has had a Macomb Township home listed for six months that's gotten two offers in the past three months. But the home has been on the market for more than two years with different agents and had no offers until this year."

"Seller Jackie Odbert won't budge off the current price of $249,900. That's down from the original price of $329,000 for the four-bedroom, 2,600-square-foot home."

"'After over 40 showings, Jackie is one of many sellers who are in shock when they understand the market controls the price, not the seller or the Realtor,' Lutz said. 'The buyer is the market and they don't negotiate on an overpriced property.'"

"Odbert built a new house in St. Clair County just before putting her home on the market in August 2005, just when the market started to slow. She's working overtime to take care of both homes."

"'As we keep going down with the price, it's disappointing,' Odbert said. 'The people come in, and it seems they want everything for nothing. They want you to pay closing costs, they want a finished basement, a three-car garage. They don't seem to realize how much the owner put into it, and we won't get it back.'"

"'I just might have to let it go to the next person who makes an offer of $220,000,' she said. 'Who knows if it's going to get better in Michigan?'"