The Canadian National Post looks at the Florida housing bubble. "The U.S. housing market has endured a boom of historic proportions over the past few years. Adjusted for inflation, real price increases have been the highest on record. Jorge Perez, whose Related Group has ridden the recent U.S. property boom perhaps faster and further than any other developer, knows the market has cooled."

"'There has been a great amount of construction, some overbuilding,' concedes Mr. Perez. 'The media [have] on a daily basis told prospective buyers the bubble is going to burst,' he says. 'I think people are taking a much more measured look at real estate. So our universe has shrunk. Speculators have almost dropped out of the market and sales have slowed down.'"

"Where developers in the Sunshine State once held lavish sales launch parties every bit as raucous as the high-tech frenzy, they're now throwing incentives at buyers. Where buyers camped out for days, they are now selling at auction. And where investors once turned to housing after their equity portfolios melted, they're now walking away from deposits."

"'The mortgage market today is bigger than the government bond market; housing is valued at double the level of household equities on the household balance sheet,' David Rosenberg, chief economist for Merrill Lynch says. 'Never before has housing come to permeate the economic and social fabric to the extent that it does today.'"

"Harry Rodstein says the market has turned on a dime. Sales at his condo conversion in Sarasota have ground to a halt. Conversions are apartment buildings converted to condos, the latest real estate fad to hit the state. 'What I've seen is that sales, particularly in condo conversions, have fallen off the end of the table,' he says."

"He blames the retreat on excessive media coverage of the bubble and a U.S. Federal Reserve that does not know when to let up with interest rate hikes."

"Mr. Rodstein neglected to mention one crucial factor, oversupply. Across the United States, there are 3.5 million single-family homes and condo units up for sale, a record, and up 30% from a year ago. In Miami-Dade County alone, there are 25,000 condos under construction and another 25,000 that have already got their financing and are likely to go forward. In addition, 50,000 more have been announced."

"In the whole period from 1995 to 2004, only 9,079 units were built in Miami Dade."

"'It was like a gold rush,' says Mike Morgan on a tour of a slapped-together-looking development of US$260,000 to US$300,000 homes and townhomes, wedged between a trailer park, drainage ditch and the highway.'I was doing an open house for the townhomes we had listed there and these four elderly ladies told me they bought four of them. They said: 'We drove up from Miami and Ft. Lauderdale, we got off the I-95 and this was the first thing we found.' They bought four.'"

"The garages are so tiny Mr. Morgan can't fit his truck in and there's no room to park on the street because the driveways are jammed together. There are 'For Sale' signs on every block and many homes are obviously empty, without curtains on the windows. Mr. Morgan says people wouldn't ask him the questions they normally ask when looking for real estate, such as details about the location, amenities and taxes."

"'They would only be concerned whether it was pre-construction,' says Mr. Morgan. 'Pre-construction became the buzzword, like dot-com. They only wanted pre-construction. I'd say I've got these units that were already built and they'd give a good income stream, but they'd say, 'No, no, I want to flip the contract before I close.'"

"Many flippers are now walking away from their deposits or trying to wiggle out of their contracts, using shoddy workmanship as a loophole. Mr. Morgan says he now has 43 investors who are walking away from deposits of US$35,000 to US$80,000."

"Recently, three new homes at an exclusive golf community in St. Lucie West, were sold by auction. Jeff Banack an investment salesman, picked up a two-bedroom home for US$235,000 plus the 10% buyer's premium. Al Deleeuw, a builder from Detroit, had two similar houses for sale on the same street for US$350,000 and US$345,000. Mr. Deleeuw says he thought the price was right because he's had price agreements on both, but they fell through."

"At the auction, the auctioneer adds: 'We are the price reality check.'"