The Valley Voice reports from Vermont. "Despite national headlines, local realtors remain optimistic that the Addison County residential real estate market is strong and will improve throughout 2008. The first quarter 2008 closed with thirty-two residential sales in Addison County as reported by the MLS. Coldwell Banker Bill Beck Real Estate reports that this is a 24% decline from the first quarter in 2007."

"The report explains that the drop in sales from 2007 to 2008 does not mean that property values are decreasing in Addison County. 'This is a reflection of the activity levels in the lower priced homes. Of the houses that were sold in the first quarter only three were over $300,000.'"

"Local realtors are concerned about the grim outlook the national news is painting of the local residential market. Nancy Larrow, CRS of Associates in Lake and Mountain Properties explains, 'Buyers are confused by the national news. Buyers are looking for bottom dollar deals and …sellers are not taking these offers.' Larrow also explains 'sellers are being realistic in their pricing and are realizing that pricing is crucial.'"

The Republican from Massachusetts. "The median sales price of homes in the Pioneer Valley fell 4.9 percent to $195,000 in the first quarter of this year compared with the same time period of 2007. The number of homes sold in Hampden, Franklin and Hampshire counties also fell 27.6 percent in January, February and March from the first quarter of 2007, according to the Realtor Association of Pioneer Valley."

"'We did expect these numbers,' said Susan M. Renfrew, of Greenfield, president of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors."

"It is the first time the median price for the first quarter fell below $200,000 since it was $187,500 in 2005, also according to the local Realtor Association. The number of unsold homes on the local market has also doubled since the housing boom was going full bore in 2005."

"Kevin M. Sears, of Sears Real Estate in Springfield, secretary and treasurer of the state association, said he gets a lot of sellers saying things like 'Well, my neighbor just sold his house for X (amount).' 'Well, that was last year,' Sears said."

The Boston Globe from Massachusetts. "Once immune to the real estate downturn that hit Boston's suburbs hard, the downtown Boston condo market is now sorting itself out. Condos in two buildings will hit the auction block in the next two months: the Broadluxe, a loft project in the Financial District near the waterfront, and The Modern, at the fringes of the South End."

"'There's no urban pioneering in a soft market,' said Debra Taylor Blair, president of Listing Information Network. 'In a soft market, the fringe areas tend to depreciate a lot quicker than properties in known and established neighborhoods.'"

"Diane Maloney of the Marketing Group said her firm initially sold more than half of Broadluxe's 44 units when the project was on the market about two years ago; those purchase and sales agreements were terminated in the foreclosure."

"At the time, those units sold at an average price of $675 per square foot. This time around it will be 'very difficult to get that,' Maloney said."

The New Haven Independent from Connecticut. "Westville neighbors got a rare firsthand glimpse at the housing crisis from a Willard Street lawn Saturday. Attorney Frank Capone oversaw a bidless foreclosure auction from the lawn."

"In the absence of bidders, the light-green two family house went back to the bank. A bid of just one dollar over the bank’s bid of $270,000 would have won the three-story house, which was recently appraised at $350,000, said Capone."

"Jennifer Blemings of 48 Willard St, said that she had seen the house for sale at least three times in the 10 years that she’s lived nearby, once for as much as $599,000."

"'Values are plummeting,' Capone said later. He said that the house’s recent appraisal was $20,000 less than an appraisal just a few months earlier."

"Capone speculated that the bank was trying to cut its losses by offering a bid that was low relative to the debt owed on the house. 'To attract buyers they put it at $270,000. Maybe that was their thought process,' he said."

"He said that the bank, located in California, 'has thousands of foreclosures. They outsource them to brokerage firms to sell.'"

From 13 WHAM in New York. "According to the Greater Rochester Association of Realtors, March home sales dipped 27 percen, with 655 home sales compared to 893 last year. February home sales were down 18 percent over last year."

"Bob Miglioratti of ReMax Realty believes this is as bad as it’s going to get. 'We have more people in the marketplace, which we think in the next 30 to 60 days will offset the declines we just experienced,' he said."

"Laura Ribbing has struggled to sell her Henrietta home for months. She blames the uncertain economy and fears over the housing market. 'If it's a starter house and they want to move in and maybe in a few years they're going to try to sell it and it's not going to sell because of the market, I don't know,' she said."

National Public Radio. "The Washington, D.C., metropolitan area has been hit hard. Prices tumbled an average of 11 percent in the past year. That's the big picture. But a look at Ashburn, Va., about 40 miles from the center of town, finds a steeper fall."

"In parts of the county, housing prices have dropped 18 percent over that same period. New construction has ground to a halt."

"Realtor Danilo Bogdanovic surveyed two rows of neat, new, brick townhouses on Falkner's Lane. 'These were selling for about $550,000 at the peak, which was about August '05, and they're selling right now for about $350,000,' Bogdanovic said. 'Fifty percent of this community has been ether foreclosed on or is facing foreclosure.'"

"At a recent auction of foreclosed homes north of Washington, in the Maryland suburbs, there weren't many takers. All of the addresses are far from downtown, and average commute times are among the highest in the nation."

The Daily Press from Virginia. "The number of homes sold in Hampton Roads in the first quarter of 2008 continued to slide as prices held flat."

"The sales decline was especially pronounced in the Williamsburg area, which includes upper York and James City counties. A 45 percent drop in the number of homes sold in Williamsburg, compared with a year earlier, was the largest of the 22 areas tracked by the Virginia Association of Realtors. Statewide, the number of homes sold declined 26 percent."

"Frank Hughes, a Realtor in Williamsburg, is still optimistic and thinks that there's substantial pent-up demand. He pointed out that pending sales in the Williamsburg area are down only 22 percent from the year before."

"The number of homes on the market has built up over the past couple of years, but the Virginia Association of Realtors doesn't have inventory figures. The Hampton Roads Real Estate Information Network keeps track of inventory, along with performance by locality. But the group recently decided that it would no longer make its data public."

"R. Scott Brunner, CEO of the Virginia Association of Realtors, acknowledged Realtors say so often that it's a great time to buy, they lose credibility. But, he said, now really is a great time."

"Potential buyers should stop listening to national media stories that paint a gloom-and-doom picture and quit trying to time their purchases with an anticipated bottoming of the market."

"'People are waiting it out,' he said, 'hoping there's going to be a magic point when it hits a bottom.'"