A trio of reports on the Florida housing bubble. The Motley Fool. "Crane-counting. That's a new game that I play with my family as we drive through downtown Miami. There are so many high-rise condominium buildings sprouting up, most of them in inexplicable places far removed from the beaches and nightlife hubs, that the one who guesses the highest number of construction cranes always winds up winning."

"Last week, I rented a home just two minutes from the entrance to Disney World. You know it's not a good sign when a new development is trying to sell its second phase of new homes in a community where the number of 'For Sale' signs and real estate agent-led open houses is exceeding the number of houses that were delivered just months ago."

"Just down the street from the Kissimmee build-out, run-down motor lodges that failed miserably as hotels are trying to reposition themselves as condo hotels. The problem is that they're trying to sell studio efficiencies for $125,000 or more in areas that struggled to fill rooms for $30-$40 a night in the past."

"Did I mention that my wife and I paid less than that for a cozy three-bedroom villa with room to spare in a lively resort community just a few years ago?"

The Naples Insider. "To me the most notable event in the local real estate market is the number of of misguided sellers with outrageous pricing, and the number of listing agents accepting such listings as the normal course of doing business. Within most communities, you can have very similar properties with list prices up to 25% apart. Sure, such things as the view and other differentiators can account for some of the price difference, but not the extent of most differences."

"For a condo with the exact same floor plan, the difference in list price between the low and the high end is 33%. The middle and highest priced units would need gold pouring out of the faucets to have a buyer consider a purchase."

"The original list prices were often greater than highest price ever paid within the community. A belief by sellers and their listing agents that prices were escalating, while in fact they were decreasing."

"The number of homes available for sale during July 2006 is in the 9,000 range. This is double the amount available for sale in previous years. and would suggest that Naples will be a buyers market for many years to come. A significant number of those homes are priced out of the market and can not really be taken seriously as a home, that is in good faith for sale."

"There has been a trend emerging of motivated and realistic sellers. Some sellers have reduced pricing from an outrageous amount to just an absurd price. But others have reduced prices to year 2004 levels. A major reduction off of peak selling prices."

"Let's examine the group of homes that closed during the 10 day period ending July 18, 2006. Nearly all homes in this group had significant reductions off of the original list price, and some had significant reductions off the most recent asking price. In most cases it is probably a combination of the buyer getting a good deal, and the seller coming off a ridiculous asking price."

The Bradenton Herald. "Few workers make the six-figure income needed to afford a median-priced home in Manatee and Sarasota counties, an affordable-housing coalition said Tuesday. A person needs to make at least $109,248 a year to afford a home at December's median sales price of $322,700, the Florida Housing Coalition said."

"Even construction managers, the two-county region's top-paying occupation in the coalition report, don't make enough to be able to completely mortgage a median-priced home."