The Herald Tribune reports from Florida. "When a developer recently submitted plans for 8,100 more homes in the Manatee County mega-project Lakewood Ranch, it left some people scratching their heads. Why would developers forge ahead with plans for thousands of homes there, and at other area projects like Palmer Ranch in Sarasota and Babcock Ranch in Charlotte County, with a housing slump officially under way?"

"To developers and builders who make millions by speculating on land years in advance, now is a great time to keep charging ahead with big projects. Most won't build out for years, or decades, so short-term housing slowdowns are not a reason to panic."

"The only thing that could dramatically sting the long-range speculators would be a drastic drop in the arrival of new residents to buy those homes. Almost everyone in the housing business seems convinced that everything will be just fine. They believe that people will just keep coming to Southwest Florida."

"'That's what we're putting our faith in,' said Tom McTigue, Bruce Williams Homes' VP. 'It's a little bit of luck, a little bit of faith and a little bit of market research.'"

"The problem right now in the Sarasota area is the roughly four-month surplus of new single-family homes, according to Metrostudy. The imbalance came from an artificial demand, said Tony Polito, director of Metrostudy's Tampa/Sarasota market. 'We just saw a huge amount of speculative buying,' he said."

"Everyone in the business feels the pain. Bruce Williams Homes had to lay off 15 construction workers this year because of the slowdown. Builder and developer Pat Neal is discounting homes up to 8 percent."

"'I expect that to continue,' Neal said. 'I think the builders who are focused will work with buyers. This isn't a crisis, but it is a downturn that will last a year or a little longer.'"

The Naples News. "With three children to support, for Rudy Bustillo and his wife it came down to a choice between having a home or luxuries like eating out and going to the movies."

"They chose to have a home. Now they have a $2,100 mortgage to pay from their combined gross monthly income of $4,800, about $4,200 during the slow summer months. Bustillo leaves his home in Lehigh Acres at 5:10 a.m. and drives 50 minutes one-way and works a second job when he can."

"'We can’t pay our bills with just one job - mortgage, car payments, insurance, utilities...,' Bustillo said. 'It is hard but we wanted a chance to own our own home. We didn’t want to rent anymore.'"

"With home prices cooling and sales stagnating, builders will start to realize that they can make more money by selling 10 houses for $250,000 than building homes for $500,000 that don’t sell, said Bill Price, COO for McGarvey Development in Lee County."

"As for why builders haven’t responded to the need before, Price said, 'in their defense, the real crisis and an awareness of the crisis has only really developed in the last couple years.'"

The News Observer from North Carolina. "In recent months, builders and brokers have found that the region's reliance on transplants for home sales means that the area is not shielded from the nationwide housing slump."

"'Raleigh-Durham is one of those [regions] that draws many new residents from other states for jobs and baby boomers who are retiring,' said Lawrence Yun, an economist for the National Association of Realtors. 'They are coming from places where they are having housing market problems,' Yun said."

"In Northern Virginia, California and Florida, speculators drove prices sky-high and are now trying to dump their properties. That's causing a housing glut that's keeping homes on the market, Yun said."

"Locally, sales to people moving to the area are estimated to account for between 20 percent and 50 percent of home sales, according to builders and realty companies. Often, companies that are transferring workers to the area buy homes the owners can't sell."

"About 46,000 people work in the housing market, building, selling and supplying materials, in Wake County alone, according to the home builders association. So far, nobody is laying off employees or slowing building, but that's a possibility."

"What most people don't want to do is lower their asking price. Daniel Wall, a builder in Fuquay-Varina, has tried to sell a $349,000 custom home in the Broadmoor subdivision in Johnston County since June. Two potential buyers who wanted to escape Florida's hurricane season were interested but both backed out when they couldn't sell their homes."

"Even though monthly payments on the construction loan are $2,500, he's reluctant to reduce the price because it's already $8,000 below market value, he said."

"Mark Kistler, who moved from Gainesville, Fla., to Raleigh for a job at N.C. State University, understands that attitude. He's been renting an apartment for $1,500 a month since July because he can't sell his Florida house, which has been on the market for 17 weeks."

"Kistler is asking $319,900 for the Gainesville home, which he bought for $285,000 a year earlier. Kistler knows he bought near the housing market's peak, but he doesn't want to reduce the price, because brokers advised that it's still below market value, Kistler said."

"'The market is soft, and they aren't selling properties like they used to, but the broker still feels we're priced competitively,' Kistler said. 'Did I pay too much? Should I reduce the price? Those are the things going through my head. I could drop the price significantly and get a buyer, but I don't want to take a loss.'"

"'All the Realtors tell me it's still a sought-after market, not flat like on the coast. I don't know the answer. I wish I knew so I could sell my house,' he said. Until it does, he won't be eating out, making any big purchases or taking a vacation."