The Florida Press reacts to the home sales numbers. "Sales of existing single-family homes and condominiums plummeted in Broward County last month. With more than triple the number of homes for sale compared with last year at this time, buyers have become selective and unwilling to make full-price offers."

"'Buyers are a commodity right now,' said Joanie Villanti, a real estate agent in Broward and Palm Beach counties. 'When they walk in, it's like, `Let me kiss your ring.'"

"The market was destined to slip because local wages couldn't keep up with the enormous price hikes, experts say. More than 20,300 homes and condos were for sale in Broward last month, an increase of 321 percent over April 2005."

"Sellers, though, are struggling to stay positive. Bruce Sherter finally found a buyer this week for his $599,999, five-bedroom Parkland home. It took six months and five price reductions. 'If you want the home to sell, you have to be aggressive with the price,' Sherter said."

"Sales of single family homes in April in Miami-Dade and Broward counties were down 12 percent from March and more than 30 percent from this time last year. The number of unsold homes on the market has tripled in the past year."

"'It's a stand-off,' said Andre Dandeneau, who has tried unsuccessfully to sell a two-bedroom condominium in Hillsboro Beach since December. 'Buyers want sellers to come down, but sellers aren't capitulating.' Dandeneau bought his 2,000-square-foot waterfront condo last year for $600,000 and spent about $100,000 to renovate it in hopes of quickly reselling for a tidy profit."

"In December he put it on the market for $915,000. Buyers showed little interest, so he dropped the asking price to $895,000. Now he says he won't go lower, but he has yet to receive an offer. 'I am not selling a piece of garbage,' Dandeneau insisted. 'This apartment is to die for. I am not going to give it away.'"

"Palm Beach County posted the biggest sales drop of all metropolitan markets in the state. Local buyers closed on only 804 resales last month, a staggering 43 percent decline from the same month a year ago. A look at the Regional MLS shows the number of single-family homes and condos for sale in Palm Beach County more than doubled in the past six months."

"'The growing number of condos for sale is truly shocking,'" said Jack McCabe. 'We're going to go through some real pains from this previous boom, and it's statewide. The next five years won't be pretty.'"

"Homes sales in the Sarasota-Bradenton market fell 44 percent in April when compared with the same month a year ago while Charlotte County-North Port fell 33 percent. With 11,653 listings in just the Sarasota-Bradenton market, real estate agent Steve DuToit, who owns five condominiums and 19 single-family homes, is bearish about the next 12 months. He is bullish about real estate on the five-year horizon."

"Something has got to give 'when listings are up 300 percent and closings are down 50 percent,' DuToit said. 'There are a lot of overpriced homes out there and the market won't recover until the market again feels there is value,' he said."

"DuToit expects a decline in the number of real estate agents in the region, a figure that has roughly doubled in the past five years. 'There is less than one sale per year per Realtor,' he said."

"The number of houses sold by Realtors in the Volusia-Flagler market plummeted 37 percent in April, even as the median price for the houses stayed up. Sandy Miller, president of the New Smyrna Beach Board of Realtors said she's also seeing lower sale prices. 'Some prices are dropping, but they were overpriced to begin with,' she said."

"Home sales on the Treasure Coast dropped significantly in April. Jerry Mabus, president of the Realtors Association of St. Lucie County, said speculators who bought Treasure Coast homes with the expectation of flipping for more money are in for unpleasant surprise. 'They will have to adjust their prices to the market,' Mabus said."

"Jack McCabe said speculators are to blame for the housing fiasco as higher inventory levels pushed prices beyond what local residents could afford. 'St. Lucie County will feel this the most because Martin and Stuart were relatively conservative when it came to growth and building new subdivisions,' McCabe said. 'The speculators were playing the market like stocks, they artificially inflated prices.'"