The Houston Chronicle reports from Texas. "After avoiding many of the problems suffered by other housing markets across the country, the Houston area finally began to feel some sting last year. 'We've gone from a period of people talking about Houston being an island to the recognition that we're indeed being affected,' said Evert Crawford of Crawford Realty Advisors."

"The University of Houston's Institute for Regional Forecasting looked at 66,828 single-family homes sold through the MLS in Harris, Fort Bend, Montgomery, Galveston and Brazoria counties. Most of the homes were existing, but 18.2 percent were new. Of the 2,127 subdivisions surveyed, almost half posted price declines."

"Philip and Marilyn Taylor, who moved here for a job this year, are experiencing two very different housing markets. In February, the empty-nesters bought a new three-bedroom house in the Eagle Springs subdivision for $251,500 after relocating from the Chicago area."

"Sales in their Humble neighborhood have been strong. But they're still trying to sell their townhouse back home that's been on the market since December. 'I wish the market up in Chicago was as good,' said Marilyn Taylor."

"John Geddie felt the slowdown last year when he took his four-bedroom, 3,400-square-foot house in West University Place off the market after trying to sell it for six months. He was asking $770,000, or about $226 per square foot."

"Geddie still thinks the West University market is strong, and that he was just asking too much for the brick house, which was custom-designed by an architect in 1998. 'I didn't need or want to sell the house, but thought if I could get an extraordinary price, I would,' he said."

"'There are good values out there, good interest rates. But we don't have buyers to take advantage of it,' said real estate broker Ronnie Matthews. 'Until that gets to a more equitable playing field, we're going to have a weaker market.'"

"Foreclosures in Harris, Montgomery and Fort Bend counties soared 21 percent in 2007."

"'The combination of us having an affordable housing market and growing economy is offsetting to a large extent the problems of foreclosure,' said economist Barton Smith, director of the Institute of Regional Forecasting at UH. 'The foreclosure problem shouldn't be dismissed in Houston, but at least we're at a better position to handle it if we have the will.'"

"A growing share of home sales in the Houston area are foreclosures. And that's putting downward pressure on the sales prices of existing homes, according to a survey." "Foreclosures accounted for 16.5 percent of home sales last year, with a median sales price of $100,000. That's compared with 9.6 percent in 2006 at nearly the same price."

"'This is the first year in a long time the foreclosures are driving the home resales down in value,' said Michael Weaster, an agent who specializes in selling foreclosures for banks. 'This will be the first time Realtors who don't do foreclosures realize they are going to have to tell Mr. and Mrs. Smith selling their home, 'Look, you've got foreclosures you're competing with, and we need to price competitively.'"

"Though the trend is sprinkled throughout the Houston area in pockets, it is most notable in expanding or newer subdivisions outside the Beltway. Neighborhoods with homes below $150,000 near areas where builders are still putting up new houses are feeling it more than others, said Timothy Verge, an agent in Katy."

"'They have to sell their houses for less because you can buy a brand new house or a foreclosure that's newer for less,' he said."

"Take, for instance, Teal Run in Fresno, which saw more than 100 foreclosures. Of its 180 sales last year, 61.5 percent were foreclosures, helping to push the median sales price per square foot of homes there down 7 percent. Nearby Estates of Teal Run had 47 sales, 73.2 percent of which were foreclosures, pushing the price per square foot of homes sold in the neighborhood down 3.8 percent."

"Craig Hayes, who has lived in his current house in Teal Run for six years — 11 total in the neighborhood — has watched his home's value decline by $10,000 as foreclosures mounted."

"Hayes, the pastor at a local church, considered selling his house but figured he'd end up selling it at a loss if he moved. 'Even if I wanted to move, I couldn't, because it's not worth it,' he said."

"When homeowners can't sell, they also can't buy, noted real estate agent Shad Bogany."

"'If you can't sell your house, you can't move out,' he said. 'It's frustrating because a lot of lenders are just giving the houses away and dumping the properties, so people who live there can't sell and move up.'"

"Real estate broker and investor Mario Guzman Jr. had to rent one property because it couldn't sell. He has had another house in the Cypress neighborhood of Lancaster on the market for three months and figures it will take much longer to sell because of foreclosures and short sales."

"Of Lancaster's 39 sales last year, 27 percent were foreclosures, which helped push the median sales price per square foot down 5.5 percent."

"Guzman's offering a $2,500 bonus to any agent who can sell the house, and he's offering to contribute to the buyer's closing costs and down payment."

"'Usually people put a $500 bonus. I've been investing for a while,' said Guzman, who has 21 properties for sale. 'Now I have to be more aggressive.'"

"Almost 800 buyers paid at least $1 million for houses in 2007 through transactions handled by agents in places like Stablewood, Memorial and River Oaks. That was up 23 percent from the year before and 64 percent over the sales for 2005, according to the Houston Association of Realtors."

"Home values are spiking in upscale neighborhoods where builders are scrapping outdated properties to put up amenity-filled McMansions, according to a study."

"The inventory of such homes, however, is growing. It would take slightly more than a year to sell all the million-dollar homes that were on the market at the end of February, the association estimates."

"'Once you get to a million, you limit your pool,' said agent Suzann Richardson." "At the beginning of the year, a local energy trader in his mid-30s spent 'between $1.5 million and $2 million' in cash for a parcel just under 20,000 square feet in River Oaks."

"'Relative to other investments I could make, it seemed a little more stable,' said the trader. 'If I buy a piece of property and the value goes down, at least I'm enjoying it. If I buy a piece of paper, a stock or some other financial instrument and it depreciates, I've just lost money.'"

"In his 15 years in the mortgage business, David Zugheri had never seen a first-time home buyer spend $1 million on a house in the Houston area until last year, when he saw three — all in the energy industry."

"Still, University of Houston economist Barton Smith worries about what could happen if the energy market weakens."

"'These energy booms never last forever,' he said in a recent interview. 'What happens when the energy boom softens and their incomes go from seven- to six- to five-digit levels? All of a sudden, that million-dollar home may be a significant burden to them.'"

The Beaumont Enterprise. "The owners of two housing developments in Beaumont's West End say their developments are on track and moving forward, despite national problems that have halted some new-home building. The Crescent on Walden and Metropolitan Park on Dowlen Road both have sold lots and have homes currently under construction."

"Richard Guseman, president of Guseman Homes and of the Home Builders Association of Southeast Texas, said national troubles of foreclosures, a weak economy and the credit crisis still have not taken a toll on Beaumont."

"The number of single-family home building permits issued in Beaumont increased in 2003, 2006 and 2007, according to the city's building codes division. 'We're the bubble in the country that's not affected,' he said."

"Metropolitan Park owner Bryan Lee said two and a half years after starting work on the $80 million project, construction of 104 condominiums and completion of the neighborhood's streets are in the works. The condominiums, Lee said, start at $185,000."

"Mary Jane Mouton, who is leasing some of the houses in Metropolitan Park, said a small number the 40 lots have been sold, and she suspects more sales once construction gets under way. 'There isn't really anything there for people to look at,' she said. 'We need to have something there for people to touch and feel.'"

"Hayes said he doesn't think national foreclosure and credit problems have caught up with Beaumont. 'I think Beaumont has been blessed with the fact that we're unusual from the national housing market,' he said."

The Temple Daily Telegram. "According to figures from the Temple-Belton Board of Realtors, the number of home sales are down 13 percent, and dollar volume 8.11 percent, for first quarter 2008, compared with first quarter 2007. The median price of homes sold also dropped, $118,500, for the first quarter 2008, compared to $123,350 for the last quarter 2007."

"Local builders say they are keeping busy, and the numbers support them. Staff at city hall stays busy processing builders requests for plats and lots for their subdivisions."

"The city of Temple for the first quarter 2008 has processed requests from builders for 1,283 lots in the first quarter, more than 10 times the number for first quarter 2007. Troy Glasson, director of government affairs at the Temple Area Builders Association, said the Temple-Belton area has sustained steady growth for a variety of reasons."

"'Number one is that our builders are very conscientious of local market drivers and don’t tend to over build,' he said."

"Brenna Diggs with Stillwater Custom Homes said they are 'staying very busy' building custom and speculative homes and remodeling jobs."

"Susie Lovett, assistant manager at Monteith Abstract & Title, said business is strong for both Belton and Temple. 'I think we’re doing fantastic,' Ms. Lovett said. 'I don’t think this negativity in the news is reflecting what’s going on in Temple.'"

The Tyler Morning Telegraph. "Through March, buyers had closed on 399 homes, according to the Greater Tyler Association of Realtors. Last year during the same period, the number was 454 units."

"This year, at the Texas Association of Realtors winter meeting, TAR officials called the local association presidents into a room for reports on how their regions were faring, Jason Wright, GTAR 2008 president said."

"'It was overwhelmingly positive, even to the extent where Randy Jeffers (TAR board chairman) said, 'We knew Texas was still in good shape; we just didn't know that it was in this good of shape,' Wright said. 'The only struggles that you hear about are the national new home builders who literally just went out there, took investment capital and built these housing farms; they just threw rooftops all over the place.'"

"That is not hurting the local real estate business, but Wright said he imagines some of the national builders are feeling a pinch because of a housing glut."

"Fellow Realtors locally and statewide are telling him their businesses are doing well. And, he added, Realtors are honest with each other. 'Whenever we're in those (TAR) meetings, it's all about no sugar-coating, here's what's going on,' he said."

"Wright said he is noticing homes are appreciating at a slower rate, because the margins that were once in new construction have dwindled somewhat."

"'Even Tyler, with a market as strong as we have, I think that anyone would agree that the $400,000-$500,000 price range became overbuilt,' Wright said. 'A new home that a builder used to get $130 a (square) foot for, now he's selling for $115 a square foot, thus making that existing home that you could sell for $110 a square foot harder to sell, because now for $5 more I get a brand new house.'"

"Wright said many people are moving up to other homes in Tyler, making the competition to sell their current homes stiffer. He said he also believes people are pulling back slightly - maybe about 1 percent - on the asking price because they believe they must in order to sell the house."

"'The psychology is, 'The market is bad, so I can't get as much for my house,' he said."

"Local authorities said many of these borrowers bought houses with subprime loans because they could not have qualified for a prime loan. But lenders have since toughened their qualifying standards, which Wright said is a good thing because borrowers who are well qualified for a home loan now will more likely be in a position not to default on it later."

"'What we're seeing is that borrowers have to bring some money to the table,' Wright said. 'You had people literally moving into houses and just picking up payments, going to closing with no money and getting into a house.'"

The Amarillo Globe News. "Maybe the housing woes of other urban markets haven't hit Amarillo, but the resulting mortgage lending restrictions can be felt here. 'I think we're seeing it harder for some borrowers to find a mortgage loan,' said Mindy Jackson, a broker and past president of the Amarillo Association of Realtors."

"Mortgage lenders will be checking income tax returns, bank statements and credit scores to evaluate an applicant's income, assets and whether they pay their bills on time, Jackson said."

"'A late house payment is a killer,' she said. 'Who wants to loan money to somebody who makes their house payment late or doesn't make it?'"

"Even those with good credit should expect to have a down payment, Jackson said. 'There are no 100 percent loans out there, or very few,' she said."

"Housing market crises in other parts of the country have colored some perceptions of the local market, Jackson said. 'The general perception is, 'Why are there so many houses on the market?' Jackson said."

The Dallas Morning News. "North Texas pre-owned home sales slid 25 percent in March from a year ago. Last month's decline in home sales – one of the steepest so far – was enough to put the entire first quarter into a double-digit downturn, according to preliminary statistics."

"During the first three months of 2008, pre-owned home sales in North Texas dropped by 18 percent from the same period last year, according to sales through the Realtors' multiple listing services."

"Much of the decline in home sales is being attributed to tougher lending standards that have locked some potential buyers out of the market. Investors who had purchased thousands of houses are also on the sidelines."

"The first-quarter drop in pre-owned single-family home sales – while significant – was less than the 30 percent-plus decline in new home sales in Dallas-Fort Worth during the same period."

"Sales of condominiums and townhouses have fallen even further – down 40 percent in March from a year earlier, according to the latest Realtor numbers."

"The outlook for the period ahead is clouded. Pending house sales were down 30 percent last month from a year earlier. The number of pending condo and townhouse sales was down 37 percent."

"Economists don't expect a quick rebound in the local housing market. 'My best guess is no real market improvement until latter 2009,' said Dr. James Gaines with Texas A&M University's Real Estate Center. 'This year and next will be trying for everybody.'"

"'2009 probably may show some slight improvement, but nothing to get real excited about,' he said. 'It'll take that long to work through the excess new home inventory plus sell off all the foreclosures, which won't slow down until later next year.'"