CHICAGO — For farmers eager to sell land for development, the phones have fallen silent.

Less than a year ago, vacant cornfields were creating bumper crops of cash for tillers of the soil who stood ready to sell their acreage for new housing.

But an unseasonable chill has settled over the housing market, and farmers and middlemen who were waiting for deals that would yield bundles of money have been left holding the bag, said real estate consultant Steve Hovany.

"There have been some cries of agony as buyers renege on agreements," he said. "National builders have sold off some land as a way to make their bottom lines look better."

Earlier this year, a few builders began toying with the idea of selling excess property. That was followed by the gavel falling on several suburban subdivisions.

Additional builders have taken write-offs for land they no longer need. Some are letting options expire, dropping plans to make purchases from farmers.

As autumn arrives, agricultural land is ready for a typical harvest of corn and soybeans, not the green and gold of cash windfalls.

Farmer David Bengtson, 47, says the market for those seeking to sell their land "appears to be just about dead. Everyone has pulled in the reins. It was so crazy for several years that a downturn had to happen. From all that I hear, things will remain this way for about three years."

Bengtson's family sold its 116 acres in southwest suburban Homer Glen to housing developers several years ago. It still has more than 1,000 acres of farmland in Iowa and elsewhere.

Now Bengtson, his wife, Pamela, and brother Dan operate an annual Homer Glen pumpkin festival on rented property.

In recent years, several outlying counties got approval from voters to buy millions of dollars' worth of farmland as open space.

"Farmers who still want to get rid of some land are hoping to sell it to a forest preserve," Bengtson said.

Some national developers have switched from building in distant cornfields to acquiring infill properties in established suburbs closer to Chicago, said consultant Hovany of Strategy Planning Associates in Schaumburg.

"That way, they don't need to carry land on their books for a long period of time," he said. "Building nearer to the city, they expect to finish projects within a year."

Some builders have run into financial problems.

In southwest suburban New Lenox, a new development, Sanctuary Pointe, less than two blocks from the village's park district golf course, is sitting idle. Village officials recently granted the owners 45 more days before they will stop a $2.3 million letter of credit to complete unfinished work on the subdivision.

"They put in the roads and the utilities, but no houses out there," said Robin Ellis, planning and development administrator for New Lenox.

Three developers have expressed interest in the unfinished subdivision, which has grown up with weeds. It is just north of U.S. Highway 30 on Marley Road, according to village officials.

About two miles north of Sanctuary Pointe, another subdivision has completed roads and other infrastructure, but has seen virtually no construction. One house is under way. A forlorn sales trailer sits at one corner.

After a frenzy to buy farmland over the last several years, the market has calmed, but that doesn't mean developers aren't looking, said home builder Christopher Shaxted.

"We are buying land from other builders, and we are buying from farmers," said Shaxted, of Lakewood Homes in Hoffman Estates.

He said national builders who moved into the Chicago market inflated prices in recent years, with the result that "we created some very rich farmers, multimillionaires."

Currently, according to Shaxted, "the situation gives us a bit more time and a chance to be more selective when looking for property."

The drop in demand for farmland around major cities doesn't seem to have cut into prices for cornfields in rural areas, said economist Neil Harl of Iowa State University.

"The demand for corn, because of new facilities being built to create ethanol and biofuels, is shoring up prices for land away from the big cities," he said. "In Iowa, prices for farmland are steady or slightly higher."

Harl said the weakness in prices near Chicago is "not at all surprising, considering the spotty demand for housing.