The Orlando Sentinel reports from Florida. "The cooling of the region's red-hot housing market has turned the supply-and-demand equation on its head. Buyers, once frantic to find homes in the face of skyrocketing prices, now can shop at a leisurely pace, picking through thousands of homes while waiting for prices to fall."

"Evidence of the shift can be seen in the growing use of the Multiple Listing Service, the Realtors' giant database commonly referred to as the MLS. During the second half of last year, only 59.4 percent of homes sold in the area were listed on the MLS. During the first six months of this year, that number increased to 84.9 percent."

"'We are seeing more and more of that,' said Alan Bloom, a Realtor in Longwood. 'Those sellers are starting to get discouraged about how long it's taking.'"

"Karen Cowie knows all about the changing market. Now that she and her husband want to move back to The Villages, they have run into a problem. Their three-bedroom Port Orange home, listed at just under $300,000, has been on the market for two months. They have had a couple of open houses and a few inquiries but nothing resembling an offer."

"'It almost makes you want to take the sign down and say forget it,' Cowie said. 'I'm not going to give my house away and sacrifice everything I've worked for.'"

"Homeowners, spoiled by several years of record gains, are loath to surrender their winnings. But there is a simple reality working against every seller, whether they are represented by a Realtor or not: There are many more homes than there are buyers."

"In August, there were enough homes on the market, 21,000, to last more than 10 months at the current sales pace. A year ago, the inventory of 5,500 available homes was enough to last about seven weeks. That means there's nothing to push prices higher or perhaps even maintain their current levels. Many sellers, however, refuse to accept that."

"'They are still holding out for 2005 prices in the 2006 market,' said Beverly Pindling, president of the Orlando Regional Realtor Association. 'We have to do a lot of educating,' she said. 'Unless you price it below the market, it is not going to sell.'"

"Alicia Wolfe has been trying to sell her Lake County home since April, when she first put a 'For sale by owner' sign in her front yard. With nearly a dozen neighborhood homes on the market, Wolfe has steadily lowered her asking price to compete: $229,000; $216,000; $209,000; and now $205,000."

"'Ours is the cheapest and the newest in the neighborhood. So I figured it would have sold by now,' she said. 'Nobody's even made me an offer.'"

"There are many like Mitesh Gandhi, a self-employed consultant in New Jersey, who saw opportunity to make money in Florida's red-hot housing market. He purchased a tract of land and had a house built. It was completed in April."

"But with the market wobbling, he wants out. Gandhi is trying to sell a new four-bedroom home in Palm Bay, initially purchased as a rental property. He tried the Realtor route for six months before growing frustrated and deciding to go it alone. It's now listed at $269,000, $40,000 below its starting point. And he's offering a $5,000 bonus at closing."

"If there is no sale by year's end, he faces a decision: pay a little extra for a no-frills listing on the Realtors' Multiple Listing Service or seek the full-service help of another Realtor. 'I'm crossing my fingers that we won't have to think about those options,' Gandhi said."

The Sun Sentinel. "South Floridians are stuck in a cash crunch that arrived just as the value of their homes began to drop. That drop in prices is happening at a faster rate than in the rest of the nation. While good news for buyers, that makes people feel less wealthy and can affect spending."

"'What I'm hearing is major exasperation,' says real estate agent V. Elaine Stevens of Lauderhill. 'People are being impacted. One of the really big ones is the FPL bill.'"

"Stevens says houses and condos may continue to be hard to sell even as prices drop because of other costs. 'The whole thing is people can't afford the insurance and they can't afford the taxes,' she said.'"

The Palm Beach Post. "When Jacquie Cofer launched her real estate career in June, she entertained visions of a six-figure income and plenty of time for her two children. The once-sizzling, now-fizzling housing market has jolted her back to reality. The Jupiter woman gave up a six-figure salary to chase real estate riches, but she hasn't made a penny as an agent."

"'I thought real estate would be a perfect match for me,' Cofer said last week. 'But there's just no buyers. Even if you can get a good deal on the house, the taxes just kill you.'"

"The number of home sales in Palm Beach County has fallen since 2001, according to the Florida Association of Realtors. Today, there are some 11,000 Realtors in a county that's on pace to sell less than 10,000 existing single-family homes for the year. The Treasure Coast has seen a similar trend. 'Some agents are starving,' said Jerry Mabus, president of the Realtors Association of St. Lucie."