A pair of reports provide an update on the Florida housing bubble. "A planned high-rise condominium tower called 1390 Brickell Bay in Miami won't be built and deposits will be returned to buyers, the developer announced. 'Market conditions impaired us from doing this project,' said Kenneth Baboun. 'The market changed so fast, the rules have changed drastically.'"

"Baboun was in some ways the classic example of the young, wealthy developer with big ambition but little experience. Just 25 years old, the Mexico native moved to Miami in 2003 and had never built a high-rise tower in his life. Last fall, Baboun staged a lavish condo party, a trademark of the South Florida condo boom, but something seen less today."

From the Sun Sentinel. "Linda Rudner of Boca Raton bought a two-bedroom condominium near the beach as an investment last year. She fixed it up, then listed it at $450,000 but later dropped her asking price to $399,000. Rudner might have to come down even more. She wants to sell soon and said she's done dabbling in real estate." "'I won't do it anymore,' Rudner, 51, said Wednesday. 'I'm too afraid. There's too much on the market.'"

"The rising inventory of existing single-family homes is slowing sales across South Florida. Sales fell by 35 percent in Broward County and 23 percent in Palm Beach County. As inventory builds, homes sit on the market longer, causing antsy sellers to reduce their asking prices."

"Steve Petranick, a Broward real estate agent, said he used to have only three or four properties to show clients looking for homes in the $200,000 to $300,000 range. Now he has 20 or more. 'There are a ton of listings,' he said. 'It's definitely become more of a buyer's market.'"

"The housing market has slowed, and sellers need to be more realistic, Anne DeFries said. 'They can't compare their home to a home that sold a year ago or even six or eight months ago,' she said. 'And homes have to be properly marketed. The days of just putting it in the MLS or putting a sign in the front yard are over.'"

"Brevard County's home resale prices fell in the fourth quarter. Realtors and home sellers say the market is slowing. Jeanne Dobus of Indian Harbour Beach, who put her home on the market in October, said she has been disappointed so far in the response, which has been slow. 'I've never seen such a glut of homes for sale in this area,' Dobus said, noting the asking price of her four-bedroom home is $349,000."

"'People are offering $250,000 to $260,000,' Dobus said. 'That's just not the right price.'"

"Kathy Smith had a much-easier time selling her Port St. John home, asking price $89,900. Smith, who moved to Fort Pierce, put up a sign in her yard Friday, and had it sold that afternoon. 'It's because of the price,' Smith said. 'We probably could have asked for more, but we needed to move quickly.'"

"Sales of existing homes fell 34 percent in the Bradenton-Sarasota market in the fourth quarter compared with the previous year, and inventories are on the rise. Agents collectively sold 1,062 fewer homes in the fourth quarter. 'Artificial prices seemed to outdistance buyers' desires,' Richard Taylor, president of the Manatee Association of Realtors. said. 'We're not in the frenzied market we were in a few months back.'"