What do you see in your local housing market this weekend? Lower prices? "Home prices in New York's Long Island suburbs fell in the first quarter from a year ago and the number of properties for sale rose. 'The market is certainly weaker than it's been in the last couple of years,' said Jonathan Miller, president of New York- based Miller Samuel. 'It's not subprime, it's credit in general. Any time you place a restriction on credit, in this case tighter underwriting standards, you restrict the flow of sales activity.'"

Builder pullbacks? "One of the nation’s largest new home builders has decided to pull out of the entire mid-Atlantic region because of poor market performance. KB Home officials said the move will help it hold onto cash reserves and ride out the housing crash."

"'We evaluated market performance in the area and we had to make the decision to focus on areas that will allow us to grow our business and profits, given the current conditions in the real estate market,' said Lindsay Stephenson, a KB Home spokeswoman.. 'We informed our employees and homebuyers on March 6 that we made the difficult decision not to invest in additional communities in the area and to make a gradual transition out of the market.'"

"A California-based home builder that has offices and developments across the region is pulling out of the Greater Cincinnati market. Ryland Homes, which built 183 homes last year in the region, plans to begin winding down its Cincinnati operations this year and close up shop by 2009."

"'We have made the difficult but necessary decision not to invest in additional communities in Cincinnati due to ongoing sluggish conditions in the local housing market,' said Pete Skelly, president of Ryland Homes’ North/West region."

Employment fallout? "Economists believe Hawaii’s construction industry will experience a soft landing, but that’s no consolation to hundreds of laid off workers unable to find jobs."

"Ron Taketa, the financial secretary and business representative for the Hawaii Carpenters Union says the change has been profound from just a year ago. 'Last year we probably had 75 to 100 members on the bench,' said Taketa. 'As of today we probably have 900 here on Oahu (without work).'"

Failed projects? "After more than two years of marketing, a condominium converter has hired Inland Real Estate Auctions Inc. to sell 293 unsold units in a large apartment complex in the far northern suburbs. A large sale of so many unsold units in a condo conversion project, sometimes called a 'reversion conversion, is rare in the Chicago market."

"An investor group led by Palos Hills-based Capital Acquisitions paid about $38 million for the development in August 2005, with plans for a quick conversion of the rental project."

"But Stanley Smagala, president of Capital Acquisitions, now candidly predicts that the for-sale housing market will take several years to recover. 'It’s going to take two years before we find out what’s going on, three years before the values start going up again,' he said."

Stretched buyers? "Fort Myers Realtor Denny Grimes took over the sale process of the 116 residences left at the gated community at the north end of Del Prado, and within two weeks he had all of them under contract. 'It was a liquidation sale,' Grimes said. 'We sold all of them; we're working on financing the last house.'"

"The homes Grimes listed started as low as $86,000 for town houses and $133,000 for single-family homes."

"Buyer Larry Torpy and his wife Terri were looking for a second home in Florida and heard about the sale. The couple currently has a house on the market in Hawaii and wanted a place that would serve as a warm-weather getaway now and a retirement home in the future."

"'We had never been to Cape Coral,' Torpy said."

"'We checked out other places,' Torpy said. 'Every time we came back to Coral Lakes, more houses had been sold. It seems like we got more bang for the buck in Coral Lakes.'"

"The couple settled on a single-family home and have already made plans to upgrade the kitchen counters and install ceiling fans. Furniture, though, will have to wait for awhile. 'Our first piece of furniture will be an air mattress,' he said."