A pair of reports from Inman News on the housing bubble. "Globalization appears to be in full swing for the real estate industry, with foreign buyers playing a significant role in some U.S. markets. While prices continue to escalate in Florida, sales have been sliding. In March, sales were down 22 percent compared to March 2005, the Florida Association of Realtors reported."

"Foreign buyers, just like domestic buyers, are concerned about the sustainability of price increases in Florida, (broker) Alex Shay said. 'Foreign buyers are just like everybody else, everybody is talking about a real estate bubble.'"

"Real estate speculators, both domestic and international buyers, have a lot to do with the current slowdown in the real estate market, said (consultant) Jack McCabe. 'Speculators were just rampant down here,' he said, and particularly with luxury condo projects in South Florida."

"'Speculators and speculative development and speculative lending created an oversupply in multi-family units, many of these are luxury. A lot of these purchases, both internationally as well as U.S., were done over the phone through brokers. Now a lot of properties are getting cancelled,' McCabe said."

"But as speculators have left the market, the timing is good for serious foreign buyers who are purchasing a second home, McCabe said. 'It has become more of a buyer's market for them. Sellers are now willing to negotiate. We've seen sales velocities in a lot of markets come to a standstill, with inventories two and three times what they were 12 months ago.'"

"Lewis M. Goodkin, a real estate and financial industries consultant in Miami, said that international buyers got caught up in the fever of the U.S. housing boom just like domestic buyers. 'The level of speculation had been at a record high. It just dwarfed anything we've had in the past.'"

"During the most heated days of the housing boom in Florida, it was common for new projects to sell out long before ground had been broken at the development site, and foreign buyers were among the participants in these sight-unseen purchases, he said. 'It was the first time in all the years I've been in business that residential developers were outbidding commercial developers for a site.'"

And this on standing inventory. "In January, we commented on how rapidly rising home sales have masked the fact that there are more than 500,000 unsold new homes under construction. Now, 128,000 unsold homes are completed and ready for immediate move-in. This is the highest level in history, and an increase of 22 percent from one year ago."

"Annualized new-home sales rebounded in March to 1.21 million units following a dreadful February. Still, sales are down more than 7 percent from one year ago. The median new-home price fell to $224,200. The Housing Market Index continues to decrease, reaching 50 in April, its lowest value since November 2001."