A pair of reports provide an update on the Florida housing bubble. "T-Rex Capital is throwing a party Thursday at its new Eighty Points West luxury condominiums on Flagler Drive in West Palm Beach. It's all to show brokers how much they're appreciated. But T-Rex also has another motive. The company that once owned the former IBM complex in Boca Raton needs to generate buzz for its pricey condos, especially now that the housing market has softened."

"Only about 10 percent of the 173 units have sold so far, although Cliff Preminger said sales are on schedule because T-Rex held back on marketing most of the $170 million project until now. Home sales have slipped across South Florida in recent months, and experts say West Palm's condo market is overbuilt."

"But Preminger remains undeterred. 'Obviously, we don't expect to sell out overnight, and people are not going to be sleeping in the parking lot, but we expect a good sales velocity,' he said. Preminger, by the way, wouldn't say exactly how much money T-Rex is pouring into the event. 'Let's just say it's a six-figure party,' he said."

From the Orlando Business Journal. "Existing home sales set a record in January, with 1,831 homes changing hands, an 8 percent increase over January 2005, according to the Orlando Regional Realtor Association."

" But that wasn't the only record set for the month: The number of existing homes available for purchase, 12,015, is a whopping 262.22 percent increase above January 2005's tally of 3,317 homes on the market. In January 2006 alone, ORRA members entered 6,172 newly available homes, compared with 2,970 in January 2005."