More reports on Floridas housing bubble. "Don't tell (Palm Beach developer) Steve Kelton about trouble in the bubble, the housing bubble, that is. 'When the media harps on the bubble bursting and how bad the market is, that causes a Mexican standoff,' said Kelton. 'Developers aren't selling for less, because they can't,' he says, 'but people reading the newspapers are thinking, 'Oh, developers are going to drop prices soon,' so they don't buy.'"

"Kelton is partner in a new three-building townhouse development in Delray. 'The townhouses don't concern me,' Kelton said of the sales potential. 'Now, if you were talking to me about high-rises...'"

"The reasons for the drop in home sales, according to real estate agents: Residents are staying put to avoid paying ever-increasing housing taxes and insurance costs, and many are downsizing or moving north to find a better value. Some people, such as West Kendall resident Adriana Ayala-Diaz, are waiting for prices to dip."

"'If not, I'm moving either to Orlando or North Carolina,' she said. 'The prices were ridiculous,' she said. The shift in the market is slowly showing. Tenzer Realty figures show: In the West Kendall area, they sold 136 single family homes in the first three months of this year, a 20 percent drop from the same time frame last year."

And the Sun Herald has the second part of this series. "Real estate agents, builders, investors and lenders all seem to agree that realty prices are leveling out in North Port. The boom days of last summer are past. The round table participants concurred that sellers need to forget the exorbitant sales prices of last year and focus on more realistic prices."

"(Realtor) Arthur Broslat offered, 'We'll get this market going again as soon as people's expectations become realistic. People are expecting too much from the sale of their homes. They tell me, 'I could have sold it last July for that amount,' but I tell them that was last July, and you missed it.'"

"Ted Allen said that builders find North Port a good place to invest. 'As Chair of the Planning & Zoning Committee, it seems like all we are doing is approving new homes. Big developers like DiVosta and Centex are overwhelming the market.' He said a lot of people want to buy in North Port, but they are having trouble selling their present homes."

"(Developer) Tony Linton added that given the number of properties available now, investors have time to wait for the slow time to pass. 'But homeowners who have to sell now will have to readjust their expectations.'"

"One nagging issue is the job market. 'How can you staff Wal-Mart when the people making $9 an hour could never afford to buy a house here?' asked Broslat. 'Unless we get better jobs here, we'll end up selling real estate to each other and suing each other. And working at Wal-Mart and delivering pizzas.'"