The numerous houses for sale in my neighborhood haven't been reduced since my previous posts, not in number or in price either, from a quick scan by me of some real estate sites. Quite a few are bank approved short sales too. People are apparently not jumping on these because the short sale prices are pretty high. In Schenectady, I know that the high taxes are a deterrent, but even outside the city sellers appear not to be reconciled to the fact that the bubble has burst. I have also heard that banks are trying to make up for lending to so many unqualified buyers by not lending to qualified buyers now, but I don't have any firsthand knowledge of this.
Aside from the houses with For Sale signs out front, there are quite a few sitting empty for long periods with no indication why. I found outrecently that one single family house on upper Garner Avenue, a nice area, has been vacant for about three years.

What I found interesting is that on a street that I drive daily, there is a house that is for sale, but they really care about how things are going in town, as they are ready to move out.  They have signs up for the entire Democratic Party.  Of course, I'm sure that they hope their house sells before the election, and if so, they're probably moving out of town at that time, so why would they even care about the election?  If you're selling your house, I think you should be as apolitical as possible.