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The Chicago Tribune reports from Illinois. "In an effort to turn around a slowdown in sales of units in his luxury tower being built along the Chicago River, developer Donald Trump on Thursday will meet with reporters to deliver a message: He's got a sale going on. 'We're pricing to sell,' Trump said about his 825-unit Trump International Hotel and Tower now under construction. 'People think we're sold out but we're not.'"

"Of the 825 units in the 92-story tower, 224 condominiums are still for sale. Trump, 60, is hoping that his appearance will help at a time when he claims Chicago's sluggish housing market is hurting sales."

"'There's no question, the market has taken a serious hit and is slowing,' Trump said. 'But it's a great time to buy in our building because we aren't raising prices.'"

"Since January, Trump has sold only eight condominiums in the tower, which will cost about $775 million to develop, he said."

"'With the market in upheaval, price discovery is difficult,' said William Testa, a senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. 'Developers are reluctant to lower prices but buyers have expectations that prices will fall.'"

"Indeed, Chicago condominium sales declined about 45 percent in the first quarter from the year-ago period, according to Appraisal Research Counselors."

"At the same time, residential developers are planning to deliver a record number of new, downtown units. From 2007 through 2011, they are slated to build 16,300 for-sale residences for an area with about 90,000 existing dwellings."

The Grand Rapids Press from Michigan. "A Dallas-based company added Grand Rapids to its list of Michigan cities with a growing number of foreclosed properties. The company held auctions in Detroit, Battle Creek, Lansing and Jackson earlier this week, and is to do the same in Muskegon today."

"More than 500 properties were up for sale from May 19 through today as part of the event, about 300 of which were auctioned off in Detroit. Hudson & Marshall is hired by lenders to help unload the foreclosed homes."

"Real estate agent Abby Cook said her agency and others are trying to keep pace with the 'unbelievable' amount of foreclosed properties. 'The market is tough right now, and auctions are a quick way of selling off the houses,' she said."

The News Press on Wisconsin. "Bob Arnold, an agent in Mequon, Wis., has noticed the rising number of empty houses in his market. He thinks the trend offers some encouragement because some sellers have enough faith in market trends to take a risk."

"'We're coming out of a gloomy fall market. If they didn't do anything then, they're saying, at least there's a more positive atmosphere out there,' he says."

"Agent Edward Smith represents a Milwaukee house that has stagnated on the market for more than 24 months, plagued by a poor location and other woes. Its price is now $309,000, a far cry from the original $425,000."

The Perry County News from Indiana. "In Perry County the number of foreclosures - and sheriff’s sales - have been on a steady rise, figures show. 'Years ago we might see no more than 10 sales for an entire year. Now we have dozens,' said Sheriff’s Deputy Richard Myers."

"Records provided by the county clerk’s office show 93 foreclosures were filed in Perry Circuit Court in 2006, up from 75 the previous year. Thus far in 2007, 29 foreclosures have been filed, many of them by national lenders who issued large numbers of subprime loans over the past couple of years."

"'A lot of the big companies you’ve heard about are the ones who have a lot of the bad loans,' said Myers, pointing to common names such as Countrywide Home Loans, HSBC, Ditech and Washington Mutual."

"Several of last week’s planned sales were put on hold and will likely be readvertised in The News. Those sales won’t be far off, Myers said. 'It never stops.'"

The Wichita Eagle from Kansas. "The rough winter of 2006-07 slowed the appreciation of homes in the Wichita area to the lowest point in three years. But analysts said it's just a blip."

"Home prices appreciated by 0.22 percent in the first quarter of 2007, according to a study released Tuesday by Wichita State University's Center for Real Estate. That's the slowest quarterly appreciation rate since 2004, said Stan Longhofer, director of the real estate center."

"'Activity certainly wasn't robust in the first quarter, and I'm not quite sure why,' said Connie Simcox, president of J.P. Weigand & Sons. 'Weather certainly has an effect, no question.'"

"So does the widely publicized coastal housing market crash, said Bill Graham of Graham Inc. Realtors, as speculative increases in home values have outstripped demand. 'Bad press from the national viewpoint affects the psyche of buyers everywhere,' he said."

"Wichita-area existing home sales fell 9 percent in the first quarter of 2007, and new home sales plummeted 26 percent, both bearing out the impact of the weather, Longhofer said."

"But the downturn won't take on statistical significance until and if it continues for another couple of quarters, he said. 'If I saw appreciation rates were at an annualized rate of 1 to 1.5 percent for the next three or four quarters, then we've really slowed down.'"

"Wichita remains a seller's market, Graham said. 'We're still considerably ahead of where we were last year,' he said. 'We're still getting multiple offers on the prime houses. We're still selling listings at or near cost. But if this trend continues, you're going to have a totally different look.'"