The St. Augustine Record has this report from Florida. "(Realtor) Arnold DeLorenzo, a respected voice in the local real estate market for 40 years, said houses for sale here may stay on the market longer than the sellers intend. 'We're saturated,' he said. 'The (housing) market is definitely weakened.'"

"DeLorenzo said even mid-priced homes aren't selling well now because there are just too many listed. 'Our inventory is up five-fold over last year,' he said. 'We just don't have the buyers. There's no demand.'"

"A state study of the market from February 2005 to February 2006 indicated that in some parts of Florida, such as Punta Gorda, home sales are down 90 percent. '(That study also says) the Jacksonville market is doing well, but it's flat,' DeLorenzo said. 'Some developers are taking $40,000 to $50,000 off the price of new homes. I just hope the market doesn't go into a tailspin.'"

"'The market can't go straight up forever. This is actually a good sign,' he said. 'Everyone's perception (of what their house is worth) was too high. That's got to change.'"

"(Broker) Roy Barnes Jr. said much of the chill on home prices is caused by the "fear factor" caused by Hurricane Katrina along the Gulf Coast and by four hurricanes hitting South Florida. 'I don't feel that the values have dropped. Prices are being adjusted. Many properties were unrealistically priced,' Barnes said."

And the Naples Insider has the May report up. "Naples is currently a strong buyers market for most property types and price ranges. There are many instances where sellers have dropped their asking price by over 20%. Without significant price adjustments, trends suggests that Naples will be a buyers market for years to come."

"Unlike second home buyers, investors were in the market for the profit potential and had no emotional tie to the property or the Naples area; just a financial tie. Once the slowing trend began to emerge, they wanted out and in big numbers. Beginning in November 2004 the area starting seeing record number of new listings added each month."

"Year-to-date the pace of sales is mirroring year 2003, suggesting total sales for year 2006 will be 30% to 40% less than the previous two years. With a record number of homes for sale, trends suggest that unless bus loads of price-insensitive buyers start arriving, or prices drop significantly, or a combination of both, the Naples real estate market will remain a buyers' market for a very long period."

"Some sellers have to sell, and instances are appearing were they have sold at extremely low prices. I've seen some properties sell for 40% off of original list price and 25% off of peak prices.

"A comparison of actives (homes for sale) vs. pending (homes under contract and waiting to close) is a good measure of the health of the housing market. In a healthy real estate market, pendings might equal 50% of of homes listed for sale in the mid price ranges, and 20 to 25% in the higher price ranges. In the winter of 2005 that ratio was near or over 100% for many areas communities; an indication that the market was on fire. In April 2006, the actives vs. pendings ratio for the Naples area was in the 10% range. An indication of low buying activity."