The News Press reports from Florida. "Foreclosures in Lee County jumped sharply last month as speculators gave up on land for which they overpaid and homeowners failed to keep up with their payments. In October, 352 foreclosures were filed in circuit court, up 48.5 percent from the 237 filed in September. That’s almost three times as much as October 2005."

"'In my opinion this is the market bottoming out with defaults,' said mortgage broker Jeff Tumbarello in Fort Myers. 'A lot of the foreclosures right now are failed speculative ventures, homes that never got built, where they bought them assuming it would continue to appreciate.'"

"But prices for residential property peaked in December 2005 as the median price for a single-family home in the county hit an all-time high of $322,300. In September, the median price was down 18.9 percent at $261,400, according to the Florida Association of Realtors."

"The price of lots has dropped even more, Tumbarello said, noting that 'there are now lots under $20,000 in Lehigh Acres,' where it was hard to find one for less than $50,000 at the peak of the market."

"John McWilliams, a real estate broker with Coldwell Banker Preferred Properties, said it’s not just lots in Lehigh that are losing their value. 'Sad to say, the consensus feels that due to the plethora of 100 percent financing for entry-level homes, we expect to see an increase in foreclosures over the next six to 12 months,' he said."

"The problem, he said, is that a lot of people bought homes with no money down and also financed the closing costs. As a result, they might owe $240,000 on a house originally valued at $230,000 that’s worth even less now."

"As foreclosures mount, the auction business is getting ready for a repeat of its heyday in the early 1990s when large numbers of Florida condominiums went on the block as prices plunged, said Carl Carter of J.P. King Auction Co. King already is getting inquiries and has hired a specialist to handle the auctions company officials expect will occur. 'We’re preparing for a whole new business,' Carter said."

The Palm Beach Post. "New foreclosure filings in Palm Beach County nearly doubled last month as homeowners struggled with declining home values, plunging sales and soaring inventory, a report released Thursday shows."

"The number of new foreclosure filings in Palm Beach County leaped to 866 from 453 in October 2005, RealtyTrac said, a 91 percent jump. In Martin County, foreclosure filings more than doubled in a year. St. Lucie County foreclosure filings, meanwhile, rose 28 percent over the previous October."

"'We have such a dramatic inventory glut in Florida - and such a disparity between prices and incomes - that there's more work to be done,' said Michael D. Larson, an analyst in Jupiter. 'I don't expect foreclosure activity to cool, or pricing weakness to end, until at least 2008.'"

From TC Palm. "The foreclosure rate in Indian River County more than tripled from 32 homes entering some stage of foreclosure in October 2005, to 109 this month, according to RealtyTrac. The highest rate on the Treasure Coast continues to occur in St. Lucie County."

"Merle Dimbath, Treasure Coast economist, said the numbers have yet to reach a peak. 'Unfortunately, this is going to take awhile to run its course,' Dimbath said. 'This might be a combination of people who took out home equity lines or had lower interest rates and are now seeing those rates rise,' Dimbath said. 'But this isn't unique to just the Treasure Coast, I suspect is going on in Broward and Miami-Dade.'"

"Don Santos, past president of the Treasure Coast Builders Association, said he wasn't surprised at the numbers. 'Basically these are investors who can't afford their second or third mortgages,' Santos said."