Florida is struggling with it's housing market. "Florida lawmakers, desperately seeking a fix to the state's troubled homeowners insurance market, could force the wealthy to pay more for coverage by kicking thousands of them out of Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the high-risk insurer of last resort. An estimated 6,750 homes would be kicked out of Citizens if the $1 million cap becomes law, cutting the troubled insurer's exposure by about $16.7 billion."

"In Palm Beach County, nearly 1,703 homes worth at least $1 million would be affected, more than any other county."

"John Pinson, a real estate broker in Palm Beach, said people buying an expensive home as an investment don't want to pour a lot of money into insurance and taxes, both of which are skyrocketing here. 'Insurance is one of the number one things people look at today, especially in the upper-end market,' he said. 'They're interested in the cost to carry, the taxes and insurance and electricity.'"

"While sellers of existing homes have previously paid buyers' closing costs and broker bonuses to drum up interest, they're taking the incentives game to another level now that South Florida's five-year housing boom has ended. 'You have to do something to stand out in this market,' said Brian Boles, an agent for in Boca Raton."

"February's used-home sales were down by more than 20 percent in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties. With the number of listings skyrocketing across the region, sellers simply can't stick for-sale signs in their front yards and expect the homes to attract interest, agents say. Although the perks are getting attention, some agents think they are unnecessary, even in a slow market. They say the best incentive to buying is a fair price."

"'I don't think sellers have to offer the moon,' said Inez Fleming, a Delray Beach agent. 'People will buy it if it's properly priced.'"

"Holly Schiller, an investor in Weston, has tried to sell a three-bedroom townhouse under construction near Fort Lauderdale beach for about six months. Schiller first dropped the price by $41,000 to $599,000, then decided about two weeks ago to make it even more interesting. Schiller said she doesn't mind forfeiting more than $5,000 in profit, if it results in a sale. 'There are a lot of listings right now,' she said. 'I want my property to stand out from the masses.'"

"Schiller's agent, Rob Rose of Fort Lauderdale, said her furniture credit is not a bad idea. But he generally discourages clients from offering perks. 'If a house doesn't have a dining room or a fourth bedroom, offering a cruise isn't going to make up for that,' Rose said. 'Honestly, it's all about price.'"

"The Florida real estate market is definitely showing signs of getting back to normal. One area where that is becoming more evident is pricing, which has so far been almost unshakable bedrock in Southwest Florida's real estate market."

"'We have started to see decreases in prices now," said Jim Petche, broker in Punta Gorda Isles. The 40 or so real estate agents at his office have to submit a form whenever a client is extending a listing or changing a price. 'I will tell you of all those forms that come across my desk, I can't think of the last time I saw a price increase on one of those forms. They are all price decreases.'"

"Terry Hart and his brothers have been trying to sell an extensively remodeled home on Hope Street near Sarasota's Riverview High School for about a month now, with no bites. 'We haven't had an offer on it,' Hart said. 'But there's what, 6,500 homes for sale in Sarasota County?'"

"How far sellers will have to go is still a matter of considerable debate. 'What goes up must come down,' said (broker) Al Deering. Like Petche, he expects fairly widespread price declines to start showing up in the regional market soon. 'The areas with the biggest increases will now see the biggest decreases,' Deering said."