The Orlando Sentinel reports from Florida. "New-home construction, one of the engines of Central Florida's growth, slowed dramatically during the third quarter as builders adapted to lower demand and focused on moving unsold inventory. New-home starts in the Orlando area fell during the third quarter to 6,853, down 32 percent from the same three months last year."

"Housing starts retreated to levels not seen since mid-2003 in the Orlando area, according to Metrostudy. The new-home inventory, 22,794 units, represented an 81/2-month supply. The category of 'finished but vacant' homes was up sharply from a year ago for a second straight quarter, surging 123 percent to 8,179 units."

"Anthony Crocco, Metrostudy's Central Florida director, said many potential buyers have 'effectively withdrawn from the market' as they wait to see if housing prices are going to continue to fall. 'There is a malaise out there' on buyers' part, Crocco said."

"'We've had a lot of backlog' as a result of 'artificial demand,' said George Glance, president of the Orlando division of KB Home. 'There was some speculation,' new-home purchases made by investors hoping to make a quick profit during last year's frenzied sales activity."

The Tallahassee Democrat. "Florida's stagnant real-estate market slammed hard into the St. Joe Co.'s third-quarter earnings, dropping net income to dismal numbers compared with the company's report from the same period last year."

"'We continue to face challenging conditions in our Florida residential markets, but particularly in St. Joe's resort markets,' St. Joe CEO Peter Rummell said. 'The inventory of new and existing homes in the marketplace remains high. We continue to believe it could take until 2008 before a supply-demand balance begins to return.'"

"St. Joe's slowdown in activity reflects broader market conditions in Florida and across the nation, Rummell said."

The Charlotte Observer from North Carolina. "Developers in the Charleston metropolitan area have more than 135,000 homes on the drawing board or under construction, a huge increase since last year, a new analysis by The Post and Courier shows."

"Eleven months ago, builders had 113,000 homes planned or in the works, the newspaper found. That figure quickly became obsolete as developers unveiled dozens of new projects, more than 20,000 housing units in all."

"Put another way, it's as though developers said they wanted to build another Mount Pleasant, in addition to the five Mount Pleasants they already had in the pipeline."

"Still, some area officials and business leaders are seeing a slowdown in construction activity and a buildup in the inventory of homes for sale. But no one knows whether this is a temporary phenomenon or a real estate bubble."

"Meanwhile, all bets are off if MeadWestvaco unloads its vast land holdings, as one of its top executives recently suggested the company might do. The paper industry giant owns 145,000 acres on the outskirts of the metropolitan area, two massive plugs damming up growth west of Charleston and north of Goose Creek."

From the State in South Carolina. "Skyrocketing insurance costs are being blamed for the tanking coastal housing market that threatens to drag statewide home sales to their first year-to-year decline in six years."

"South Carolina is on track to have its first year of declining home sales since 2000. The state showed a 3.6 percent decrease for the first three quarters of the year, compared with the same period last year."

"Four of the regions in the state, all along the coast, reported declines. The industry is significant in South Carolina because it supports a range of other businesses. For consumers, a drop in sales could lead to lower home prices."

"'We’re losing some sales. I don’t know how many yet,' said Charlie Brindel, CEO of the Coastal Carolinas Association of Realtors in Myrtle Beach, who is conducting an informal survey of Realtors to determine how many home sales they are losing because of insurance rates. 'The price increases have been severe.'"

"'Agents are pre-qualifying buyers for insurance before they pre-qualify them for a mortgage,' said Nick Kremydas, chief executive of the S.C. Association of Realtors."

"Hilton Head saw the biggest year-to-date hit, a 42 percent drop in home sales. Myrtle Beach and Beaufort also saw double-digit declines; Charleston fell more than 5 percent."

"Realtor Todd Beckstrom speaks to Realtors groups throughout the nation, and agents in those markets are seeing sharp declines in both sales and prices. The Columbia market isn’t 'bulletproof,' he said."