The Philadelphia Inquirer reports from Pennsylvania. "This is supposed to be a buyer's market. But tougher lending rules, job insecurity, and fears that the house purchased today might be worth less tomorrow are taking the flexibility out of the decision to buy. The result, in many cases, is a dance of delay, a standoff between prospective buyers and sellers. Shoppers look and look, but don't close a deal. Sellers sit and wait, confident that someone will pay their price - eventually."

"Derek Dobin of Wynnewood says he's serious about buying. He's searched for two years for a larger house that's also in his price range for his growing family. 'We have watched the homes that go up for sale in our neighborhood very closely,' Dobin said. 'We have put in bids on a few homes, only to walk away relieved when the deals were rejected.'"

"Why relieved? Because, he said, had any of those offers been accepted, it would have been a financial challenge. 'We bid on a nice, almost-new home out in the Great Valley area, 15 percent below asking, which was stretching us toward our upper limits,' said Dobin. A bank was involved with the owners, who had relocated."

"The owners, he said, were insulted by the offer and 'said they would rather hold the home for two years than sell to us.'"

"Even the 'three-bedroom starter home' he now owns was a financial stretch, Dobin acknowledged. 'We refinanced and took out a home-equity line of credit several years ago to help make ends meet when we had our first child,' he said. 'We never thought we'd still be in our current home, as we are expecting our third child.'"

"Chris Ryan, a real estate agent for 35 years, is a first-time seller. He's downsizing and has had the Chestnut Hill house he's owned for 28 years on the market for almost 30 days. But most buyers, Ryan said - including coveted first-timers who don't have to sell a house to buy one - strike him as less than serious about the single he's listed at $575,000."

"'I've either been getting the ones who have been looking for one or two years, or those who are getting married in a year and want to move in a year and a half from now,' he said, adding that he'd rather take the house off the market than lower the price. 'They're just wasting our time,' said Ryan. 'They're waiting for prices and interest rates to drop before they act.'"

"T.J. and Susan Gobreski jumped into the fray earlier this year - with both feet, though not intentionally. In March, when they test-marketed their Queen Village house for sale on Craigslist at $379,000, they did not intend to buy before they sold. Yet here they are with their three children, living in East Mount Airy since June after stumbling upon 'what we always said we'd buy if we found one' - a house with an outdoor fireplace, purchased for $417,500 with a seller assist."

"The Gobreskis still have not sold the Queen Village house, which they've owned since 1996 and spent much money to make structurally sound. But they've had lots of lookers, on a street where there have been two $500,000-plus sales in the last month. 'It is a great time to buy,' said Susan Gobreski, who added that she and her husband are managing to balance the two mortgages. 'There just aren't a lot of buyers out there.'"

"Gobreski said the Queen Village house is worth what she is asking based on comparable recent sales. She believes the economy will recover, and isn't going to lower the price. 'The fundamentals are sound, and homes will retain their value,' she said. 'Why should I lower the price $10,000 when I can keep it and rent it and make that much and more in a year?'"

The Press of Atlantic City from New Jersey. "Home prices in Atlantic County continued to fall in the third quarter and are now down 8.9 percent over the past 12 months, the National Association of Realtors said. Home sales in New Jersey fell 12.2 percent from the year-ago period. Thirty-five percent to 40 percent of transactions in the third quarter were distressed sales."

"Louis Viruet Sr. was among the buyers in the quarter, paying $85,000 for a fixer-upper in Vineland. He said Tuesday that he thinks prices need to fall further. 'Right now, people still want too much. Even the banks, they don't just want it to go. They want every penny.'"

"Bob Marquis wonders how much he'll have to drop the price on his four-bedroom Linwood house to sell it, or even get people to look at it. He started at $429,000 seven months ago and already has reduced the price in steps to $365,000. Now, he said, he's thinking of going down to $355,000."

"Marquis said he can't understand the lack of interest in the newly redone home with finished basement, two-car garage, new kitchen, hardwood floors and oversized lot. 'I thought being in Linwood meant something,' he said. 'I've slashed it to nothing and I still can't get a bite.'"

"Part of the problem, he said, is that new houses in nearby Egg Harbor Township have been priced down below $300,000. 'The builders are hurting and they're dropping their prices, and that's not helping either,' he said."

"Casinos have set another record. Unfortunately, the type of records they have been racking up lately are going in the wrong direction. Atlantic City's gaming industry posted a nearly 23 percent decline in gross operating profits in the pivotal third quarter. It was the biggest decline ever for the third quarter. 'We don't see the situation improving in drastic form in the upcoming year,' said Harvey Perkins, a senior vice president with a Linwood-based casino consulting firm. 'It's not doom and gloom. It's reality.'"

"'I think it's the same lack of confidence we are seeing in the retail business and the housing business. The gaming business is not immune to it,' explained Mark Juliano, CEO of Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc."

The Star Ledger from New Jersey. "First, the bad news. The New Jersey housing market still looks pretty grim, according to quarterly housing data released yesterday by the National Association of Realtors. And the worse news? As employers continue to aggressively cut jobs in the face of the nation's economic crisis, there are jarring signs things may get even worse in a few months."

"In New Jersey, home prices fell in every metropolitan area tracked by the Realtors group except the Trenton-Ewing market, where the median price rose 4.2 percent, to $342,500, thanks to the increase in expensive homes being built in that county."

"Across Wall Street, the job losses have been particularly bleak. In early September, Moody's Economy.com predicted 45,000 to 65,000 financial workers in the New York area would lose their jobs by the middle of 2010. 'It causes potential homebuyers to lose confidence,' said Jeffrey Otteau, president of Otteau Valuation Group."

"Hudson County, which Otteau describes as 'the sixth borough of New York City" is already feeling the pinch. 'We have seen significant weakening in Hudson County over the past two months, directly related to all the trouble in financial markets,' Otteau said."

"Foreclosure filings on 8,473 properties across the state were filed in October, with Essex, Bergen and Salem counties driving the activity, according to RealtyTrac. James Hughes, dean of Rutgers University's Bloustein School of Policy and Planning, said it's too early to tell whether the federal government's steps will have more of an effect on stemming the foreclosure problem."

"'I've not seen anything but broad, general proposals,' Hughes said. 'I'm not sure at this stage how effective the programs are going to be.'"

"'The deteriorating housing system is really worrisome,' Hughes said, adding that it was exactly such a force that helped create a 38-month-long recession in the 1980s."

The Warren Reporter from New Jersey. "Township officials authorized Township Attorney Michael Lavery to work on extending a re-development agreement between the township and owners of Oxford Textile LLC, a 285-acre site located on Foundry Street slated for future development. The Guarriellos, owners of Oxford Textile...said they are seeking an extension on their agreement because of a lagging housing market and slow approvals with New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection."

"'The housing market has dried up,' Nick Guarriello said later. 'With the housing market dried up, nobody is knocking down our door.'"

The News Journal from Delaware. "The model home sits empty, the street leading to it barren and blocked off, the development's for-sale banners tattered and fallen to the ground. Just a few minutes from Del. 1 and the beaches, on Cave Neck Road near Milton, sit 89 mostly empty acres once destined to be a bustling community."

"The land is now the latest apparent casualty of the building bust, an economic slowdown that has rippled through southern Delaware's economy, leaving more than 700 properties in foreclosure already this year."

"Ohio-based AmTrust bank sought foreclosure on the developer's $13.5 million debt and the property went up for auction Tuesday. Bidding started at $1 million, but there were no takers, as in many foreclosure cases. The property now automatically reverts to the bank. 'It's the largest one that I can recall,' said Lynn Kleb, who handles foreclosures for the county sheriff's office."

"Vincent Overlook was approved by county officials in 2004. It was pitched as a 250-home community with tennis, swimming and recreation areas, a pedestrian/bike path and community parks. A grand opening was held in October 2007, but only a few homes and the clubhouse were built. Court records show a host of liens filed against Maryland-based Vincent Property LLC from fencing, flooring, drywall and electrical contractors."

"The development isn't the first housing project to falter in what was once a red-hot market. In February, developers halted the proposed 1,630-home Isaacs Glen community near Milton before breaking ground, meaning land will likely remain agricultural. More recently, several smaller developments in Sussex have gone to sheriff's sale, Kleb said. 'We've had a few, but nothing of this size,' she said."

"Single-family homes still make up the vast majority of foreclosure cases in Sussex County -- 'unfortunately,' Kleb said."

"Prominent resort-area developer Chris Schell, president of Schell Brothers, said he wasn't familiar with the Vincent Overlook project, but expected more such foreclosures to happen. 'I'm sure that's going to be something that we see happening in this market more than once,' he said."

From WBAL TV in Maryland. "Members of the Greater Baltimore Board of Realtors met Thursday to discuss the outlook for the Baltimore area market. Real estate agent Vito Simone said while houses are selling, albeit slowly, the foreclosure rate is higher than they'd like to see. Rising variable mortgages coupled with layoffs and the struggling economy are making it hard for some homeowners to make their house payment each month."

"Homeowner David Tracey said he's getting less work as a landscaper. 'My cash flow's down, so it makes it more difficult,' he said."

The Frederick News-Post in Maryland. "Anirban Basu, CEO of the Sage Policy Group, told a full house at Frederick Community College that 'it will get worse before it gets better.'"

"Basu blamed 'the regulators and the regulated' for the housing crisis. 'Capitalism fell apart. (It) used to be that borrowers and lenders knew each other. Lenders were concerned about the payback and so were the borrowers.'"

"That broke down, he said. Documentation for loans was not required and banks lent money to people thinking that even if they failed to pay the loan, the lender would get the property. With massive foreclosures and a move to a buyer's market, lenders are left holding the bag."

"Basu interjected humor into his presentation, at times lessening the gloomy outlook he forecast. He said his annual talk to Maryland homebuilders usually only took a few minutes 'because they were busy. This year, I talked for about 45 minutes to an hour. They really didn't have anywhere else to be.'"