The Naples News reports from Florida. "Ross McIntosh sold his home for $735,000 when there were several other homes in his neighborhood listed for $790,000. Some lowered their prices to $760,000 and, after months on the market, one recently sold for $675,000."

"'There is a lot of speculation about how far (down) the market is going to go and how long the (downturn) is going to last,” said McIntosh, a Naples-based real estate broker. The slowdown in the housing market is already greater than anyone had expected and it could get a lot worse before it gets better, he said."

The News Press. "Naples' real estate market seems to be in a nosedive from last year's heights. Home sales in the first nine months of the year, for both single-family homes and condos, were off 50 percent. The inventory of properties on the market is up 300 percent, to a 21-month supply."

"During the real estate boom, the Naples market was overrun with investors who helped drive up prices far beyond what a median-income family could afford. 'The valet parkers at hotels were buying (property on speculation) and saying they're going to flip it, and they're all getting caught,' says agent Karen Van Arsdale."

The Palm Beach Post. "The prices buyers paid for the brand-new homes on Fleming Way tell the tale of what happens when a market cools. In a handful of deals during the last several months, Miami-based builder Lennar Homes slashed prices on the street by as much as 51 percent, unloading the last of its houses in the Martin's Crossing development to select investors."

"That means residents such as Mark and Kim Andersen, who locked in $506,400 when they signed a contract for their five-bedroom home in early 2005, are living just down the street from a nearly identical five-bedroom home that Lennar sold to another buyer for $250,000 in late October."

"That buyer flipped the home three days later, reselling it for $425,000, records show."

"'Generally speaking, I think a lot of these discounts we're seeing today are kind of shocking,' said Alex Barron, a San Francisco-based analyst. 'And they're much more aggressive, I think, than most people realize.'"

"From Palm Beach County to Indian River County, many big national homebuilders are heavily discounting prices, with the biggest cuts showing up on the Treasure Coast, said Brad Hunter, a housing economist for West Palm Beach-based Metrostudy. 'They're offering extraordinary value, just to get rid of the standing inventory,' Hunter said."

"Jupiter resident John Icart closed in August on a three-bedroom, 2,176-square-foot house at 896 Fleming Way. The price: $245,000. That's $165,000 less than what Daniel and Claudette Henry paid for the same model house."

"The Henrys signed up for their home in early 2005, when many homes were still selling themselves. 'At that time, they were hyping that they were sold out, or were selling out, and that they only had two lots available,' Daniel Henry said."

"Donna Mau, is trying to sell the Henry house and four others in Martin's Crossing. 'I hope prices stabilize in there, because my people are going to get hurt,' said the agent."

The St Petersburg Times. "Year to year, overall housing prices in the Tampa Bay area still show small increases. But don’t be fooled. So large is this area’s unsold inventory of homes and so comparatively few the buyers, most housing prices have actually retreated 5 to 15 percent."

"It’s not so much prices are coming down, it’s that prices should never have been there in the first place,' said Craig Beggins, owner of a Century '21 franchise in southeast Hillsborough and Pinellas."

"Look what happened to the investment dreams of Jodi and Jeffrey Roberts. The real estate climate was so balmy the past few years, the Robertses’ investment homes showered them with hundreds of thousands of dollars in easy gains."

"Now they are bracing for a different forecast: stormy with a chance of foreclosure. Four Pasco and Hillsborough county properties they bought at the tail end of the property boom can’t find buyers willing to offer more than the Robertses paid for them."

"Price cuts aren’t doing the trick. In west Pasco’s Gulf Harbors, the couple listed a home for $50,000 less than what they paid. The result? Zero buyer interest. 'I know how it feels to be poor,' Jodi Roberts said as she contemplated her combined $15,000 monthly house payments."

"'Investors bought lots of new construction, held for several months and now they’re getting at the end of their fun time,' said Hillsborough Realtor Craig Eaton."

"The fun time has ended for Leonard and Joyce Sondheimer. In October 2005, the Bradenton couple bought a $338,900 MiraBay townhome on Aberdeen Pond Drive. The bayside investment home with stone counters, hardwood floors and stainless steel appliances was sure to appreciate to half a million dollars. Or so the Sondheimers thought."

"After a year on the market, no one has nibbled. Their Realtor chopped the price to break even. The tax bill alone on that single investment, $8,900 a year, is draining the Sondheimer’s nest egg."

"'I was retired and now I’ve had to go back to work. I’ve got to pay all these bills,' Leonard Sondheimer said of his new job as a mattress salesman. 'It’s getting sickening.'"

""The get-rich-quick atmosphere has already bypassed southeast Hillsborough. As Beggins gathers his agents, he explains the new rules. Look to sales prices from late 2004 or early 2005. Sellers don’t want to hear they won’t make 20 to 30 percent as before. 'Ninety-seven percent of people selling their homes are p----- off at me,' Beggins said."

"Jodi and Jeffrey Roberts say they are more angry with themselves. They say they made $310,000 last year, a combination of salaries as employees of MI Homes and gains from flipping investment homes. The home in Gulf Harbors, Pasco’s highest flying neighborhood during the boom, drew so little buyer interest that Jodi Roberts moved in with her family of six to wait out the slump."

"The $185,000, 1,500-square-foot house in Wood Trail Village north of State Road 54 hasn’t fielded an offer of more than $175,000. Roberts is three months behind on payments for a Carrollwood condo she bought in December with no cash down. 'These houses are a ticking time bomb depending on how fast the mortgage companies come after me,' Jodi Roberts said."