The Tallahassee Democrat reports from Florida. "The downturn in Florida's real-estate market hit home Friday when The St. Joe Co. laid off employees in three divisions statewide. 'We're responding to the business cycle,' spokesman Chris Corr said. 'There's been a slowdown in the Florida real-estate market. We believe it's cyclical.'"

"'We have had a work-force reduction, but I can't give you exact numbers,' Corr said. 'There are employees who have not yet heard about it.' Teary-eyed workers carrying office boxes outside the company's Tallahassee office on Esplanade Way about 1 p.m. declined to comment."

"Two men climbing into a pickup truck in the company's parking lot said they'd been laid off but declined further comment. 'Do I work for St. Joe's? Not any more,' one of the men said. 'I got a good severance package, though.'"

"St. Joe owns 825,000 acres, mostly in Northwest Florida. It is seeking approval to build 44,000 homes. The company recently announced that its net income was nearly half of what it was during the same quarter in 2005."

"St. Joe is not the first developer in Florida to lay off employees this year. The South Florida Sun-Sentineloted that G.L. Homes in Sunrise laid off 68 workers in June. In addition, WCI Communities, a Bonita Springs-based builder, cut jobs in July but would not disclose the number."

The Miami Herald. "Kevin Kilpatrick he moved to Tennessee from Plantation. Kilpatrick had a new career (that) meant he was free to relocate. The home price differences made the decision a no-brainer. In Broward, the median home price is more than $377,000. In southern Tennessee, he has 10 acres and a 4,000-square-foot home built two years ago. The price: $280,000."

"'We just felt we could have a better quality of life,' by moving, he said." "There are always people moving in and out of South Florida, but in the last year experts are seeing powerful anecdotal evidence of an outbound migration trend. Indeed, South Florida is once again losing its allure for the middle class."

"Lisa Kirkham is an example. She recently left Cutler Ridge for Maryland. Her mortgage payment kept rising because of windstorm insurance. 'I don't know how people can afford it.'"

"In 2001, the Florida Association of Realtors estimated that the median South Florida home cost $158,000. That was about 7 percent more than the national median. With 10 percent down, that would have meant a monthly payment of $898.80 for principal and interest at prevailing mortgage rates then."

"Today's median home price of $378,000 locally is 73 percent above the U.S. average. It also means that principal and interest total $2,150 monthly. And that's after a 10 percent down payment, $37,800."

"'The hardest thing for them is coming up with a down payment,' said Kimberly August, a mortgage planner."

"Could housing prices deflate? 'In most cases, it takes significant job losses, or a combination of overbuilding, modest job losses and population outflow, to drive house prices down substantially,' a Harvard study concluded."

"Although there is growing evidence of overbuilding in condos, it isn't clear whether that is the answer to the housing affordability problem. In fact, even as the new buildings soar, sales of existing condos were down more than 30 percent in June in both Miami-Dade and Broward."

"Scott Leidel took another approach. He drove off. A native of Miami, he found himself priced out of his hometown. 'It was either move to another place and pay off all our debts, or stay in Miami and get further in debt,' he said. Leidel sold his Sweetwater condo for $190,000, and decamped to a Chicago suburb. His new abode is twice as big as his old condo and cost $20,000 less."

"Certainly, South Florida remains an immensely appealing location. And some professionals think the problem may be overestimated. 'I personally don't know anyone who has left,' said John Beauchamp, (at) Fort Lauderdale's Intercoastal Realty. Beauchamp does think high real estate taxes are a growing issue, but of home prices, he said: 'I'm a positive person, and my answer is, there's a price to paradise.'"