The Rocky Mountain News reports from Colorado. "The price of homes in the Denver metro area fell 9.4 percent in June from June 2007, according to a report from a New York firm that tracks the 25 largest housing markets in the U.S. Some local experts are critical of the report. 'It's garbage in, garbage out,' said Lou Barnes, principal of Boulder West Financial. 'The problem with price analysis is that it is over-weighted with distressed properties. The sales data is as accurate as far as it goes. But the question is: How is the market that is not for sale doing?'"

"Chris Mygatt, president of Coldwell Banker Residential in Colorado, said while the data is interesting, it does not reflect what is going on in popular neighborhoods."

"'I would suggest that this information is heavily skewed by all of the properties in places like Aurora and Adams County,' Mygatt said. 'If you would take out all of the REOs (real estate owned homes sold by lenders), you would have a much different picture. Homes aren't losing value in the popular neighborhoods where people want to live. Anyone who thinks they will wait to buy a home in Washington Park, will be paying more a year from now.'"

The Arizona Daily Star. "At the peak of his success, developer Michael F. Teufel had acclaimed projects all over Tucson, earning praise for innovative designs and community accolades for business growth. Then things went bad."

"Now, Pathway projects across Tucson sit unfinished or with residents complaining of poor workmanship. While Teufel blames the downturn in the housing market, others blame him."

"In cases where homes are unfinished, buyers say they lost from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars in upfront payments. Other buyers whose homes were completed have laundry lists of repairs, including leaking windows, ceiling fans with no switches and hot tubs that don't heat up."

"'I think they bit off more than they could chew,' said Sky Ranch buyer Lucia Zegarski, who is dealing with stucco cracks."

"Meanwhile, people who bought homes from Teufel are finding they have limited recourse. Buyers who filed lawsuits are giving up, assuming Pathway has no money to cover any judgment they might win against the company."

"One buyer, Preston Schrader, paid $38,000 in deposits to Pathway in 2005 for a home and waited for more than a year without seeing construction begin. He ended up losing in arbitration because the contract did not specify when work would start, Schrader said."

"Judy Westin filed a complaint about her unfinished Aldea del Rey town home after trying numerous times to contact Pathway. The property is partially built and 'growing tumbleweeds all around it,' said Westin, who lives in Tennessee."

"'Of course, we would just like to have the money back that we put down,' Westin said. 'It's very sad.'"

"A real estate agent who represented Pathway, Scott Niles, said the developer fell behind in the boom, then hit the brunt of the slowdown. 'The market was so quick,' he said. Then 'everything kind of fell off a cliff.'"

The Arizona Republic. "Metropolitan Phoenix was the home-builder capital of the country a few years ago. But the industry has shrunk with the housing market's downturn. A few home builders, some Valley-based, have filed for bankruptcy. Some smaller home builders have closed their doors. And other builders, including a few large ones, have walked away from empty lots, model homes and entire subdivisions."

"Several Valley subdivisions have been foreclosed upon. 'Rumors abound about this builder and that builder,' said real-estate analyst RL Brown. 'Subs aren't paid by a handful of builders. Contracts are renegotiated, layoffs occur. Divisions are consolidated. Management changed. Mortgage brokers close and a bank or two fail. Investigations into unlawful practices grow by the day.'"

"Mortgages Ltd. has gone in less than two years from being Arizona's largest private commercial real-estate lender to a company plunged into bankruptcy following the suicide of its CEO, Scott Coles."

"Along with questions raised by the suicide, Mortgages Ltd.'s dramatic fall raises the business question of why a firm holding $900 million in high-interest commercial loans suddenly had to borrow money to stay afloat."

"'I can't figure out how Mortgages Ltd. decided to fund the condo projects it did when it did,' said Eric Brown, founder of the Artisan Lofts in Phoenix and an analyst with national real-estate consultants Robert Charles Lesser & Co. 'The timing was bad for most new housing developments.'"

"'In the end, Coles was probably trying to stem the bleeding,' said analyst Eric Brown. 'It's a very sad and tough situation for many people. Projects were going to him because it was too tough to get money from banks. Coles was aggressive, and it appears he felt he couldn't lose.'"

"Developers of Downtown condominium project 44 East Broadway are putting the partially finished building on the market, hoping to find a buyer or investor with deep enough pockets to finish the job."

"'It's not a panicky situation,' said James LeBeau, managing partner in the project. But 'we can't let it limp along anymore.'"

"He said, the business partners simply want to find someone with 'a lot of cash' to expedite the process. 'All the hard work is done,' said LeBeau. 'All they have to do is put in a lot of money.'"

"'There is still money for investment nationally,' said Tucson Mayor Bob Walkup. 'Your credit has got to be good and your risk has got to be low. Downtown Tucson is a low-risk investment.'"

"In addition to the penthouses, the building would have 30 condominiums priced from about $350,000 to $650,000, LeBeau said. If no big investor or buyer materializes, LeBeau said he plans to finish the building but will probably rent the units out as apartments. 'That would be plan B,' he said."

The Review Journal from Nevada. "New York-based Related Cos. has been hired by Wall Street investment house Deutsche Bank to finish development of the $3.9 billion Cosmopolitan project on the Strip, an affiliate of the bank announced Wednesday."

"'The good news from a market perspective is that the project goes forward as opposed to sitting there idle and leaving a big question mark on the Strip,' said John Knott, executive VP of the Global Gaming Group for CB Richard Ellis."

"Knott said he assumes Deutsche Bank will continue to evaluate possible partners and investors. The investment bank did not say if the project's opening will be pushed back from its current late 2009 date."

"Deutsche Bank has taken over full ownership of the project under an affiliate. A call to the bank's New York offices asking if the company still plans to sell the project after the credit markets loosen were not returned by press time."

"This is Related's third attempt to move into the Las Vegas resort market. Related was a joint-venture partner with Centra Properties on the canceled Las Ramblas project. Slated for 4,000 hotel-condominium units, the project involved actor George Clooney."

"Related's Icon luxury condominium project was canceled in November because of rising construction costs. Related also once held a development agreement for the 61-acre Union Park, but it expired when talks with the city collapsed."

The Las Vegas Business Press from Nevada. "The Meridian, a luxury condo property just east of the Strip, is in turmoil as multiple investors try to evict the company that was renting out their units -- in many cases, for illegal overnight stays."

"Unit owners, many of them absentee landlords, are trying to regain control of their units in order to generate their own tenants. Their rental incomes stopped in July when the county shut down an informal hotel operation at the Meridian. Many owners counted on an onsite rental company to generate funds to cover the cost of their condo mortgages."

"'They don't have use of their property. And they're not getting rent,' said lawyer Edward Kania, who is representing 12 Meridian owners."

"About 400 of the Meridian's estimated 450 owners are in some degree of financial distress 'now or soon,' according to Scott Oelke, a real-estate agent who owns two units at the Meridian."

In Business Las Vegas. "Some elected officials and business leaders met over two days last week to give their insights on how local governments and community leaders can create a sustainable environment in Southern Nevada."

"Mike Dwyer, a UNLV professor of environmental studies who participated in one of the sessions as a moderator, says sustainability is a complex concept to implement. 'It is not rocket science, but it is hard,' Dwyer says. 'We have rocket science figured out.'"

"In other news: The number of listings by Realtors continues to be primarily composed of nonowner-occupied units. Vacant units represent 54 percent of the 22,095 homes for sale, according to Applied Analysis. There are 7,279 homes under contract, with 4,259 contingent and 3,020 pending. Forty-eight percent of the contingent units are short sales."

The Las Vegas Sun. "A Green Valley home with a front courtyard and a bubbling fountain is advertised in the newspaper with 100 percent financing. The 'Nehemiah' program is popular because 'there's little to no money out of pocket and it's easier to qualify (than under other programs) in terms of credit,' said local loan processor Shani Fazzi of First United Mortgage."

"Despite its attraction to buyers, this seller-funded down payment assistance program will expire Oct. 1. 'We noticed as time went on that these loans were failing at two or three times the (overall) frequency,' HUD spokesman Brian Sullivan said. 'It's not enough to put people into homes. You've got to keep them there.'"

"Local real estate agents say the program has enabled families to buy homes they may not have been able to afford otherwise."

"'When we get rid of this program, a lot of people will have to rent,' said agent Teresa McCormick, who with husband Paul posted the advertisement for that home in Green Valley."

"That screeching sound heard throughout Las Vegas Valley is the brakes being applied not only to large-scale Strip projects, but to many of the residential and mixed-use projects planned for the outskirts of town and outlying rural areas."

"Expansive master-planned communities such as Coyote Springs 50 miles northeast of Las Vegas and White Hills in northern Arizona advertised the lifestyle and amenities associated with Summerlin and Anthem -- poster neighborhoods in Las Vegas -- at a significant discount in home prices."

"Focus Property Group, which snapped up thousands of acres at public land auctions, sunk more than $1 billion into the development of the Mountain's Edge, Providence and Inspirada communities. The company also made a play in Pahrump with about 1,000 acres."

"Whether Las Vegas is on the verge of a boom or bust is a matter of opinion."

"'The projects that were marketed to come on line and haven't ... am I going to suggest that those projects won't get built? No way,' housing analyst Dennis Smith said. 'Do you think Las Vegas will stop growing? Does anybody really think Las Vegas will stop growing?'"

"Builders at Inspirada are in trouble. Utah-based Woodside Homes may be near involuntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Kimball Hill Homes filed for bankruptcy earlier this year. Toll Brothers, Meritage Homes and Beazer Homes are also partners in Inspirada."

"Home building at Coyote Springs has been delayed 18 months and prices have yet to be determined, said Klif Andrews, Nevada division president of Pardee Homes."

"The golf course is finished and open for play and some of the basic infrastructure is in place, including 21,000 feet of sewer lines and 11,000 feet of water lines, A water treatment plant is finished and a separate wastewater and sewer plant is near completion."

"'You've got to spend $30 million on wastewater treatment before you can hook up one toilet,' Andrews said. 'That's why houses will always appreciate because it's difficult and expensive to build in outlying areas.'"