The St Petersburg Times reports from Florida. "Port Richey is supposed to be bursting at the seams. In the spring, officials expected five condominium and townhouse complexes to break ground by year’s end, doubling the city’s population of 3,200."

"But one of the largest projects, the 170-unit Bay Point townhouses, has stalled. And two mobile home parks, ripe for redevelopment, remain on the market."

"That’s because a slowing housing market and skyrocketing insurance costs have left the city struggling to get developments off the ground. City officials now estimate just 700 new residents by year’s end' a fraction of the roughly 3,000 predicted this year."

The News Press. "Dear Bob: Due to the slow home sales market in our area, we are having difficulty selling our home. Our listing agent suggests we offer 'special incentives' such as a monetary bonus and/or a vacation to the buyer's agent who sells our house. She says this encourages other agents to show our house more often to their buyers. Is this ethical? It seems like blackmail to me, as we already signed a listing contract."

"Dear Debra: To combat the slow 'buyer's market' in many communities, home sellers frequently offer special incentives to buyer's agents to show and sell their listed homes. Vacations, TVs, etc. are often given to buyer's agents to sell homes."

"However, before offering incentives to the selling agent, be sure your home's asking price is correctly set. If necessary, reduce your asking price. There is nothing unethical, immoral or fattening about offering special incentives for buyer's agents to sell your house instead of one down the street."

The Herald Tribune. "For the lonely For Sale By Owner seller, putting a sign on the front lawn and waiting for the phone to ring is no longer the only option."

"Donna and Gabe Boyer are a married couple who are would-be home sellers entering their fifth month of trying to sell their three-bedroom, two-bath home in North Port for $219,900. The Boyers' first listing expired with no results."

"They wrote in to say they interviewed numerous Realtors from 'well-known companies to small local companies.' 'We are amazed by the mentality of the majority (of Realtors) that you throw a listing up on the MLS, do bare-minimum Web marketing, mail a few fliers, and HOPE that the inventory of builder spec homes will decrease enough, someday, to sell a property in North Port.'"

"'Many Realtors appear stunned by the turn in market and other than price decreases, do not have many creative ideas for marketing an average priced home. We realize the importance of having a competitively priced home in this market, but we (the homeowners) are the ones calling and asking our Realtors for updated comparative market analysis, price reductions, etc.'"

"'It seems as if many of the agents are still in a reactionary mode, rather than a creative, aggressive mode.' The Boyers network with families that have only been shown spec homes by Realtors."

Some letters to the editor. "Re: House values on the way down. Not all Floridians 'fear' an approaching decline in real-estate prices. True, homeowners may have to get used to the idea of their personal fortunes leveling off, or even declining, after astronomical increases in recent years. But there are plenty of us who see the so-called correction as relief."

"My son, for example, who graduated from high school just a few years ago, has no chance for buying a home. None! From the growing number of us who have been alienated by investor-driven speculation in the real-estate market in the past decade (a quarter- million dollars as the median price for a new home in our state?), you might hear a rousing cheer. For us, it's about time. RC."

"The reality is that there are more buyers than three months ago and a flood of sellers has made it very easy for buyers to get more for their money. It would be nice to see an article focusing on the brighter side. RD."

"'Crash' might be overstating the real estate market a bit. When did you, of all people, start thinking like a stockbroker? The boom is over..but a crash? I wish I only lost 18 percent in the stock market. That was a crash."

"If you mean the speculators and flippers, you may be 100 percent on the money. Yes, the boom is over but your home and investment in well- managed real estate are not a piece of paper with a company name that can become worthless overnight. GM."

"As developers, we see opportunities in this market to watch commodity prices normalize (land prices coming down to where they should be). Every retiree, speculator, flipper or investor isn't going to make huge gains (particularly in many of the Gulf Coast areas). We just need to get all these speculators and third-tier developers driving prices up out of the market. This correction is the perfect medicine. BB."