Some housing bubble reports from Florida. "Q: Looking at today's housing market, what in your opinion is the new housing reality on Treasure Coast? Don Santos, past president of the Treasure Coast Builders Association, 'What I've been seeing the past couple of weeks is a decrease in the price of land that I would consider pretty dramatic.'"

"Q: Builders are in a unique position here. Can they absorb the slowdown in demand and what is their future on the Treasure Coast? Jim Weix, broker in Palm City, A: Unfortunately, this business is like survival of the fittest. That's just the sobering reality here. I am still in line with my profit margins and overhead. Other spec builders won't be able to do that. This is just going to kill them.'"

"Q: What should sellers expect when selling a home now? Pat Jayne, local Realtor trying to sell her Stuart home, 'A: It's probably pushing a year since we put our house on the market. We finally lowered the price by about $55,000 but the reason we did is that we bought another house. So we are now the proud owners of two homes. We discussed ways to set our house apart from all the others and we decided to offer the (winning real estate) agent a brand new Pontiac. I really don't know what else to do. I've been in the business for 20 years and I've never seen it this bad. It went from hot to cold over night.'"

The News Press. "Some experts say a wave of mortgage foreclosures is about to sweep across Southwest Florida. They point to rising monthly payments, reckless investment in 2005's red-hot real estate market, the end of low interest rates, and plunging home prices. In July, Lee County saw a 56 percent increase in year-to-year foreclosure filings."

"'The markets that have gone up the highest are the ones that are going to see the highest correction, and Fort Myers is definitely one of those,' said Jack McCabe, a housing-market analyst based in Deerfield Beach. A lot of people, including developers and lenders, are not sleeping at night, McCabe said. 'The big news for people who haven't believed it yet is that the housing boom is over,' he said."

"'We cannot treat our homes like ATMs anymore,' said Karin Klaassen, a certified credit counselor. 'That window of opportunity for anyone to cash out their equity is closing rapidly. The people who already have been taking equity out of their homes to pay for consumer debt are setting themselves up for trouble.'"

"Jennifer McArdle worries whether she and her family will be able to hold on to their San Carlos Park dream house. 'The bank is hounding us daily,' said McArdle, who with her husband, David, bought the house 14 months ago for $289,000. The McArdles are two payments behind. The McArdles are trying to refinance their 8 percent mortgage even though they'll be hit with a $10,000 penalty to Option One Mortgage. David is working six days a week and Jennifer is working a part-time retailing job to supplement her office job with WCI Communities."

"Fort Myers-based real estate attorney Kevin Jursinski said he has clients who bought lots in Lehigh Acres last year at prices double what they're worth now. 'What do you do? Sell now? Turn it back to the bank? When it comes down to whether you're going to go broke or take the bad credit report, you may want to do the latter.'"

"For those who choose foreclosure, a problem is lurking: If the mortgage isn't satisfied by the price the property brings, the lender may sue the borrower to cover the difference. The lender's primary home is safe from the judgment if it's in Florida, but all other assets are fair game, Jursinski said."

"Someone drifting toward foreclosure generally is better off getting out fast, he said. 'Immediately surrender it back to the bank, because it only gets worse,' Jursinski said. 'Take your medicine and move on.'"