From seasoned real estate writer Steve Bergsman comes this message: Proceed with caution, be patient and realize that there are many kinds of real estate markets — each with particular potentials and pitfalls.

Sales data from March indicate that a trend change in housing prices might be underway in the beleaguered Phoenix metro market.

An anemic economic recovery will begin at the end of the year, but don't expect the pain to end anytime soon.

Phoenix metro real estate prices declined 37 percent in February compared to February 2008, but preliminary data for March and April show that the rate of decline may be slowing.

The fall in housing prices continues, with the latest data from the ASU Repeat Sales Index (ASU-RSI) showing that in June home values had dropped 22.8 percent compared to June 2007. That makes four months of double-digit declines in year-over-year price comparisons.

The Phoenix metro area housing market is closing on a record. And unlike the Olympics this has more to do with losing than winning. Back in the 1990 to 1991 years, during the last serious real estate recession that roiled Arizona, house prices on a 12-month basis declined for 17 straight months.

Investors who enter the real estate sector in the midst of long up-cycles sometimes make the mistake of thinking that profitable times will last forever. When the inevitable tough times hit, those with no frame of reference become dismayed and confused.

The daily headlines are alarming: homeowners are falling behind on mortgage payments at an increasing rate; foreclosures are up steeply. Has the situation ever been this bad before? Well yes, said Jay Brinkmann, chief economist of the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The heady rush of taking real estate investment trusts from public to private has evaporated in today's credit-market crunch. And so, it's time to face a new reality, says New York attorney Robin Panovka, a renowned expert on REIT mergers and acquisitions.

The collapse of the subprime residential real estate market last summer has Wall Street investment banks and international financial titans reeling.