WHERE AFFORDABLE HOMES ARE

In boom times, home buyers were willing to stretch their finances to the limit because they figured the more house they owned, the bigger the gains on it would be. What's more, they reasoned that if they did lose a job and had to downsize, they could sell their house and pay off the mortgage with money to spare. That's no longer a sure thing now that the boom seems to be fizzling. The pace of home sales slowed sharply in October, according to a national survey of brokerage firms by Real Trends, a Littleton (Colo.) real-estate consulting firm. A slowdown in deals is what happens when buyers cut their bids, but sellers aren't yet prepared to lower their asking prices. (Source: YahooFinance) Full Story . . .