The Florida realtors have the August numbers out. "Mirroring a national pattern, Florida's housing sector continued to show signs of adjustment in August as many markets reported higher inventory levels of homes available for sale and a slowing pace of sales as buyers weighed more options. A total of 14,736 existing single-family homes sold statewide last month, a decrease of 34 percent from the previous August, according to the Florida Association of Realtors."

"Looking to Florida's existing condominium market, sales of existing condos also decreased in August, with a total of 4,375 condos sold statewide for a 41 percent decrease, according to FAR."

The Herald Tribune. "Sellers are blinking in their standoff with buyers. Home prices fell 11 percent during August in the Sarasota-Bradenton market while dropping 6 percent in Charlotte County-North Port. The median sales price for a home in August was $309,700 compared with $347,400 in Sarasota-Bradenton during the same month last year."

"In Charlotte County-North Port, the median was $210,300, down from $223,500 during the same time last year. Volume was down 28 percent in Sarasota-Bradenton, from 1,062 homes sold in August 2005 to 765 last month."

The Sun Sentinel. "South Florida's already-soft housing market weakened further in August. The median price of an existing single-family home in Palm Beach County was $386,000, down 6 percent from the $411,400 of last August, FAR said Monday."

"Sales in the county plummeted 50 percent, the biggest drop in the state."

"Broward County's median price also fell 6 percent, dropping to $362,800 from last August's $387,000. Sales in Broward declined 27 percent."

The News Press. "Sales and prices for existing homes in Lee County were down 29 percent in August from a year ago. The number of homes dropped from 968 to 691 and the median price fell 7 percent from $283,600 to $264,100."

"In Collier County, the number of homes dropped 45 percent from 472 to 259 and the median price fell 6 percent from $500,800 to $469,100. Charlotte County had a drop of 30 percent in sales from 365 to 256, and the median price was off 6 percent from $223,500 to $210,300."

The Naples News. "Condo sales in Collier dipped 66 percent last month compared to August 2005. Sales of condos in Lee dropped 64 percent, from 280 to 100. Prices of condos in Lee are down 15 percent compared to last year."

"Though agents and developers have grown accustomed to the frenetic pace of sales since 2002, the present slower rate of multifamily transactions in Southwest Florida may actually be healthy, according to local and national experts."

"Even local industry insiders, whose income is tied to the flow and not the ebb of the market, agree that Southwest Florida's rolling boil of a real estate market had to slow to a simmer for sustained health."

"'It had to stop,' Michael Saunders, president and founder of the region's largest and most prominent real estate brokerage firm, said of the current state of the market. 'History is repeating itself. This is not a new market. Warren Buffett and Bill Gates couldn't afford it here if we had 30 percent increases each and every year.'"

"'Sarasota is on the map now, especially with baby boomers. And now, this is a more normal market. We need to take the past three years off the table when evaluating what healthy really is,' said Saunders."

The Miami Herald. "Last year the home builder Lennar brought in $13.9 billion in revenue, making it Miami-Dade's biggest company. But now, the real estate frenzy that propelled Lennar's growth has cooled. Lennar has stopped hiring, and in recent months outlined its way forward in the uncertain market. The aim is to position itself for growth when the market picks up, but the strategy has drawn some criticism."

"Lennar's response: Keep building. CEO Stuart Miller plans to 'keep the conveyor belt running' and finish building new homes in projects already underway. He also plans to offer sales incentives and slash prices to get the homes sold."

"It's an approach shared by several home builders, such as Centex in Dallas and D.R. Horton in Fort Worth. The pressure is on. KB Homes CEO Bruce Karatz said Thursday price concessions and incentives by other builders have 'required us to do the same in some cases.'"

"For Lennar, Miller says he'd rather have cash now, even if there's less of it, than sit on a house and hope it'll sell for a better price down the road. 'With liquidity we live to see another day,' said Miller. Of course, that strategy also eats away at profits."