The Journal Gazette reports from Indiana. "The message to the City Council last week was crystal clear: The downtown Harrison Square condominiums will be built. But while developers can promise to construct the building, there is no guarantee people will buy condominiums, live in them and make downtown Fort Wayne the place to be."

"As of last week, only five of The Harrison's 62 condominiums had been bought. Bill Martin, of Martin Goldstine Knapke, said the condominium project represents a new product in the Fort Wayne market, and sometimes people are hesitant to change."

"'You can't force them to sign a contract,' he told the council."

"Bob Coffee, president of the Fort Wayne Association of Realtors, said in an interview that revitalizing downtown is critical to the health of the community. Persuading people to live downtown in Fort Wayne can be a challenge, he said. 'I'm just not sure that people in Fort Wayne are quite ready for it yet,' he said."

"Mike Connolly has lived at Midtowne for the past three years, but he put down a $1,000 deposit for a condominium at The Harrison with thoughts of upgrading. Connolly said the $260,000 price tag was too much for a second-story unit overlooking the ballpark."

"'I don't think the value is there for what they are asking,' he said. 'I think it's a great project, desperately needed for Fort Wayne. I'm not sure it's priced right.'"

"Connolly isn't alone. At least a dozen people have asked to have their $1,000 deposit returned."

The Register Mail from Illinois. "The Capital Area Association of Realtors reported the 1,841 homes on the market as of this week is a record high for this time of the year."

"Local developer Gerry Hughes said he believes the uncertain economy has been a factor in the relatively slow traffic since he and his brother, Steve, put two downtown condos on the market in early March."

"'People just aren't sure what's going to happen. To be honest, if I was looking to buy right now, I might just sit back and wait, unless you have a rock-solid job that's not affected by the economy,' Hughes said."

"Hughes said the brothers cut the initial asking price of $248,000 for the larger condo and $230,000 for the smaller to $220,000 for each. But he said that was based on the going price for downtown condos, not the economy."

"'We'll play it by ear, but we're not going to have a fire sale. We might have just started out a little high,' Hughes said."

"Association president Phil Chiles said he has tried to keep the 2008 numbers in perspective. 'We keep looking at this and comparing it to the best year on record (2007),' Chiles said. 'We're back where we were in 2004 and 2003. It's not terrible. It's just slow.'"

From Medill Reports in Illinois. "New, single-family home sales lingered near low levels not seen since 1991, according to a report Tuesday by the U. S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The report showed April new-home sales in the Midwest were down 39.7 percent from a year ago."

"Adolfo Laurenti, senior economist at Mesirow Financial in Chicago, said the spring and summer are prime periods for sales activity, and even with seasonal adjustments, spring hasn't fared well so far."

"'These numbers are a little bit of a disappointment,' Laurenti said. 'They are as bad as they were in the early 1990s when we had a recession.'"

"Laurenti said he thinks the large inventory of homes for sale combined with hesitation from potential buyers have kept the real estate market from swinging back up."

"'The best we can hope for at this point is for these numbers to stabilize,' he said. 'If they could start moving sideways instead of going down, that would be a huge improvement. But I don't think we are there yet.'"

"The Illinois Association of Realtors reported Friday that total April home sales in the state were down 27.2 percent from the year-ago period. The median price dipped 6.3 percent to $187,500 from $200,000 in April 2007."

The Detroit News from Michigan. "The Westin Book Cadillac Detroit not only brings some old-fashioned style back to downtown when it opens, but many buyers of the hotel's upscale condos say they'll bring the city jobs, too."

"At least half of the 55 buyers of the housing units at The Book own small- to midsize businesses and many are looking to set up shop or expand their business presence in Detroit, said Jon Grabowski, president of the company handling the sale of the Book Cadillac condominiums."

"Wes Wyatt, CEO of Cintron Beverage Group in Philadelphia who bought one of The Book's $1 million-plus penthouses, says he too thinks the Book was too good to pass up. Compared with Philadelphia real estate prices, Wyatt called the seven-figure price tag for his three-story penthouse 'a bargain.'"

"'I'm just a big fan of the city,' added Wyatt, who has described Detroit's downtown revival as 'raising the Titanic.'"

"Another penthouse buyer, Bob Bartlett, doesn't intend to move the insurance cost-containment firm he co-founded, from Farmington Hills to Detroit. 'But so many people now want us to have meetings at The Book, I can see us benefiting the city,' Bartlett said."

"Bartlett lives in Birmingham, and when he mentioned that he was moving to Detroit, 'A few people told me I was crazy,' he said. 'But as more details come out about The Book, some people now think I'm brilliant.'"

The Kalamazoo Gazette from Michigan. "Sales of residential property in the greater Kalamazoo area fell in April, the fourth straight month this year."

"But the decline was at a far slower rate than in previous months this year, possibly signaling that the housing market has stabilized and may be poised for a rebound, said Matthew Maire, CEO of the Greater Kalamazoo Association of Realtors."

"'We're happy to see that inventory has stabilized and that we may be on the way back up,' Maire said."

"The total value of homes sales through the first four months this year also was off, falling 18 percent compared to the same period last year. But in April, the value of those sales declined by 12.8 percent compared to April 2007. In previous months this year, the declines were between 19 percent to 22 percent."

"Buying activity may be up, but the high number of foreclosure homes on the market tends to depress prices. Through May 1 this year, 337 homes in Kalamazoo County were repossessed by mortgage lenders, up 14 percent from the same period last year."

"Year to date, the average residential sale price fell to $137,778, down from $149,746 in the same period last year. And year to date, the median sale price dropped to $112,750, down from $125,000 at the same point in 2007."

The Journal Sentinel from Wisconsin. "Daly's Pen Shop is one of a handful of high-end retailers still doing business at what is now called the Shops of Grand Avenue."

"'It's because I'm the only fine-writing store in the state of Wisconsin,' said owner Brad Bodart, who bought Daly's in 2001. 'Customers who want to buy something need to come downtown.'"

"But it could be better, and Bodart isn't happy about the lack of progress from current owner Ashkenazy Acquisitions Corp. of New York, in filling the growing number of empty spaces in the center."

"It's a tough time to try to find tenants for an ailing center, with many national retailers closing stores or slowing expansion plans. To make matters worse, the mall is about to lose a major tenant when Linens 'n Things closes soon."

"Linens' exit will create a 30,000-square-foot vacancy and will leave the Plankinton Arcade section of the mall more than half empty. Another store, The Dress Barn, at center court on the second level, closed this month."

"Even though Milwaukee has added a lot of downtown housing, the number of people working downtown isn't large, and downtown workers are the basis for downtown retail, said John Melaniphy, a Chicago retail real estate consultant."

"'We do extremely well if there are tourists in town,' said Richard Keppler, owner of Brew City Beer Gear. But there aren't enough tourists or other customers in the mall often enough these days, said Keppler. 'It's very tough,' he said. 'We're at a point where something has to be done.'"

"'The downtown mall is right smack in the middle of what's going on,' Keppler said. 'Why can't it get a resurgence? It should get a resurgence.'"

"Rocky Marcoux, city development commissioner, acknowledges that the Grand Avenue's current tenant mix has few stores that serve the new residents of the upscale condos and apartments being developed in and near downtown."

"'They are working very hard to bring in some different retail presence in Grand Avenue,' Marcoux said. 'Ashkenazy is not in business to lose money.'"

The Gazette Extra from Wisconsin. "The Janesville real estate market is down, but local homebuilders and real estate agents say it's nowhere near the free-fall of the national housing market. In Janesville, they say, new home construction was down 12.6 percent last year compared with a 24.8 percent drop on the national level."

"Sales of existing homes in Janesville dropped 5.5 percent, but the average price of the homes sold rose 2.4 percent to the highest level ever."

"'This is not a crash-and-burn market,' said Dan Kruse, president of the Rock-Green Realtors Association. 'This is a market that continues to move along steadily, and the sales and prices reflect that.'"

"Realtors sold 927 single-family homes in Janesville last year, a number lower than the previous four years."

"This year, real estate agents are off to a slower start. Through May 8, they sold 240 homes in Janesville at an average sales price of $128,729. Through the same date last year, they'd sold 321 at an average price of $141,884."

"'It's not a bad time to buy or sell, but we are in a correcting market,' said Jerry Morse of The Morse Co. in Janesville. 'With all the national news, move-up buyers are kind of cautious right now. With the foreclosure situation, there are also people out there just looking for bargains.'"

"'But in most cases, owners aren't going to sacrifice price. I can show them what the market is doing, but they say that if they can't get their price, they'll wait it out,' he said."

"'Last year's numbers were down, but they weren't that far off from what we saw in 2000 and 2001,' said Tom Wellnitz, president of the South Central Wisconsin Builders Association."

"'There have certainly been changes in the economy, and a lot of it has to do with how people feel,' he said. 'They read the local newspaper and see AP (Associated Press) stories about the housing crisis. But they only read the headline and don't read any further to see that the problem is in Missouri or Timbuktu.'"

"Wellnitz said the local homebuilding market has been hit hardest in the middle market, where new houses cost around $250,000. Wellnitz expects the inventory of new homes will tighten as fewer builders put up 'spec' homes, which are homes built without a contract from a buyer."

"'With the middle-market problems, I won't be doing any $250,000 spec homes,' Wellnitz said. 'I may do two $150,000 homes instead. The local market had a tough year, but home values continue to increase. When home values start decreasing, that’s a bad sign.'"