The Sun Sentinel has the latest on Floridas' housing bubble. " Even the rosiest real estate analysts concede that South Florida's housing frenzy is fading after five years. Lewis Goodkin, an industry consultant in Miami estimates South Florida's home sales pace will fall by 20 percent, compared to recent years, while the overbuilt condominium markets in West Palm Beach and Miami will face 'dramatic' slowdowns by the summer."

"He said the housing forecast for South Florida is typical of what's happening in many growing cities, such as Las Vegas and San Diego."

" Here are five key indicators: Sales are down. The number of home sales across South Florida has dropped by roughly 40 percent, according to the Florida Association of Realtors. The Orlando-based trade group tracks single-family home sales but not condominiums, townhouses or co-ops. 'Prices just got to be too high,' said Marilynn Obrig, a broker-associate in Fort Lauderdale. 'There comes a point where buyers say, `I can't do it.'"

"Listings are up. It's not just your imagination: You are seeing more for-sale signs in front yards. The number of homes and condos on the market more than doubled in Broward County from July through December. Listings rose more than 81 percent in Palm Beach County and more than 64 percent in Miami-Dade."

"Prices have flattened. As demand wanes, sellers are losing leverage, and some are cutting their asking prices. From July through December, the median increased less than 5 percent to $408,200 in Palm Beach and to $377,700 in Miami-Dade while decreasing 4.3 percent to $369,000 in Broward."

"Incentives for buyers and real estate agents are increasing. Some builders are offering free upgrades on appliances, countertops and cabinets, as well as offering to pay points and closing costs worth thousands of dollars that the new-home buyer normally would pay. 'There hasn't been the necessity to do that before,' said Jack McCabe, a Deerfield Beach analyst who is betting on a market slowdown and organizing investors to buy properties at reduced rates. 'The environment is going to get highly competitive this year.'"

"Interest rates are rising and credit requirements tightening. Thirty-year fixed mortgage rates are near 6 percent, and analysts predict they could inch closer to 7 percent in 2006."

"'The direction of the market is clear,' said Manuel Iraola, chief executive of a Miami-based online real estate service. 'What's open for debate is the magnitude of the adjustment the market will go through.'"