The News Press reports on auctions in Florida. "Dan Mahaney estimates he got three calls from Florida residents last year. Now, he's getting at least 15 calls a week from people desperate to sell their Sunshine State real estate. 'Fort Myers is really picking up,' he said, as is the rest of the state."

"Mahaney is an operating partner and works as an auctioneer and broker. 'It's an accelerated way of selling real estate,' Mahaney said. 'As you see the market slow, people are forced to go for quicker results."

"'People are looking for the quickest way out,' he said. One investor recently sold a home in Fort Myers for less than he bought it for. 'He just wanted to get rid of it and stop the bleeding,' he said. In addition to lots of interest from Southwest Florida home sellers, he's gotten a lot of calls from people in the Tampa Bay area as well as the Panhandle and Miami. He said he expects to double the number of Florida homes auctioned soon."

The Herald Tribune. "Home builders nationwide are 'taking a page from Detroit's playbook,' offering cash equivalents to 'move merchandise,' said (economist) Paul Kasriel. Nowhere is that more evident right at this moment than with Miami-based Lennar/US Home, which has..discounts ranging from $20,000 to $157,000 for homes in developments stretching from northern Manatee County to North Port."

"Take the four-bedroom, two-bath near the Manatee River: it is offered at $120,000 off the $499,900 house, more than a 24 percent cut in the price. Or the Chatham in North Port, with $157,000 off the $656,900 four-bedroom, three-bath house, likewise a 24 percent drop."

"The price-cutting gives consumers an unusual look at the kind of profits some builders have enjoyed. Many of the high-end custom builders are finding sales off 50 percent, but are riding it out with backlog orders and the profits they made during the recent record market."

"But inventory builders like Lennar/US Home, particularly those that answer to public stockholders, need to keep homes moving to keep cash flowing. Discounting is normal, says Michael Carliner, an economist with the National Association of Home Builders, 'but in Florida what we're seeing is beyond normal.'"

"In some markets, but not in Southwest Florida yet, Lennar/US Home is offering new buyers some assurance that their price is protected, meaning if the company sells a similar home nearby for a considerable discount, it would compensate that new buyer for the difference in prices. 'It's definitely a sign of distress in the home building sector,' Kasriel said."

"The fear of a sudden 'paper loss' has caused some buyers to try to wait out the market until it gives back some of the margin to entice buyers to take the plunge."

"'NO DOWN PAYMENT! NO CLOSING COSTS! NO KIDDING!!' goes the pitch from Morrison Homes, which is trying to move new houses in Manatee and Sarasota counties. Tammy Lynch, Morrison's Sarasota division president, says that some buyers with credit scores as low as 580 can get financing. Besides the financing package, Morrison is throwing in at least $25,000 more in savings on a $350,000 home."

"To Kasriel, the seller is saying, effectively, 'You can rent this house with an option to buy' for $1 and if it does not work out, 'Give the keys to the lender on your way out.'"