One of the more subtle signs of the shift in the housing sector can be found in my mailbox.

For the last few years, I've been buried in piles of books promising to show everyone and their brother how to get rich in the real estate market.

Not a week went by that I wasn't getting an armload of dead trees proclaiming that the road to riches was paved with property flips and trendy home redos.

The breathless titles and flashy graphics on these volumes were enough to make even the most skeptical investors head for the housing market. Indeed, a lot of them did.

Are You Missing the Real Estate Boom? asked the title of one of the most popular such books, by a top housing economist.

I'm sure the gang at Bear Stearns wishes to heck they'd missed out on the recent real estate run-up.

And now that subprime mortgages have wound up as one of the worst Wall Street investments since Studebaker stock, I'm not seeing a lot of books land in my in-basket that promise to turn me into a real estate tycoon.

Indeed, the few property investment tomes I see these days have a definite funerary air.

Making Big Money Investing in Foreclosures Without Cash or Credit, proclaims one title.

Finding Foreclosures: An Insider's Guide to Cashing In on This Hidden Market, shouts another.

Honestly, with all the headlines, foreclosures are anything but "hidden" these days. And good luck landing a deal without cash or credit. What are you supposed to do, trade for the houses with livestock?

I'll admit I'm suspicious of authors who claim they can make you rich. My experience has been that the smartest entrepreneurs are too busy to spend their time writing financial advice books.

Even so, it's only a matter of time before the next run of real estate books heads to the presses.

I might suggest: How to Make Billions From the Next Real Estate Boom!

Developers have gotten the go-ahead to build the $1 billion Icon Midtown complex next to the Dallas Galleria.

The project on LBJ Freeway just east of the Dallas North Tollway is to include high-rise office space, a hotel and residences sitting on top of a regional shopping center.

It's to be built on the site of the former Showcase Chevrolet dealership.

"The Dallas City Council just approved our zoning by a vote of 15 to 0," said developer Daniel Robinowitz of Icon Partners. "We are excited about that and ready to move forward."

A team of real estate students from the University of Texas has won the North Texas chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Parks' third annual real estate case challenge.

Each year, the association asks college students to solve a complex property market problem. This year, the task was doing a lease-up plan for a multi-building complex in Boston.

Seven schools competed at last week's event at the Dallas Country Club, including Southern Methodist University, Texas Christian University, Texas A&M, Baylor University, Rice University and Texas Tech.

"We used to have to ask for participants – now they are calling us," said Jack Eimer, who heads Transwestern Commercial Service's Dallas regional office and helps organize the event. "It's a way to encourage young talent for your industry."

The winning school gets a $10,000 prize.