The News Press has this from Florida. "For the first time in 16 years, Susan Bellina, a prominent Bonita Beach Realtor, doesn’t have a closing in sight. Up and down Hickory Boulevard, houses are for sale. Lots of them. 'I’ve been with Susie for six years and this is the most I’ve seen in any area,' said Christi Bacon, real estate assistant."

"On both sides of this tony two-mile stretch of road, some 26 homes are up for sale. Bacon said a drastic change has taken place. 'Two years ago we couldn’t keep a property up for sale longer than a week,' Bacon said. 'This is the first time in 16 years where she (Bellina) doesn’t have a closing lined up.'"

"According to Wes Brodersen, president of the Bonita Springs Board of Realtors, there is a variety of reasons why so many homes are for sale. 'We were invaded by investors who raised the prices and then left,' he said."

"John Dolan put the bay-side home at 26435 Hickory Blvd. up for sale last year. The four-bedroom, 4-1/2 bathroom house went up for sale last year. Their asking price was $1.8 million."

"'We took it off the market for a couple of months and recently put it back up,' said Dolan, who is now seeking $1.6 million. Dolan said he believes the housing market will get worse before it gets better. 'My insurance is going to be cancelled in October,' he said."

"'This is happening everywhere. The rising cost of insurance is playing a huge role in this,' he said. 'We’re either going to have to downsize our home or maybe even leave the state.'"

The residential real estate market is soft throughout Lee County. For the first time in seven years, the median price of an existing home sold with the help of a Realtor was lower in June than it was a year earlier, $268,000 compared to $281,000 in June 2005."

"Meanwhile, the number of homes for sale in the county has risen dramatically over the past year to more than 12,000, about three times what it was a year ago."

From Florida Today. "Condominium sales tumbled 79 percent in Brevard County last month compared with June 2005, the Realtors organization reported. And the median sales price slumped from $229,500 to $185,000."

"'I can tell you that the condominium market is over-saturated right now,' Ken Ward, a director at Towne Realty on Merritt Island, told Melbourne officials recently. 'A lot of the projects that have been brought before you, most likely you're going to hear back (from the developers) again, because they're not going to get built.'"

"'It's not like you're building single-family, one-story homes where you can come out and, after three homes, you can stop,' Ward said."

"The Brevard County residential housing market now lists about 7,000 properties, including roughly 2,300 condominiums and 600 townhouses, said Gene Collins, president of the Melbourne Area Association of Realtors. Collins said the market is softening, in part, because quick-turn investors are looking elsewhere."

"'The flippers were in there pretty early (in 2004), particularly in the beachside areas. It was a great business, but I think those people are really out of the market now,' he said."

"In recent months, local and out-of-county developers have submitted documents to City Hall detailing 10 future housing towers in downtown Melbourne. The towers would contain at least 1,028 condominiums, suites and townhouses."