The Orlando Sentinel reports from Florida. "Experts say they don't know how many of the Orlando area's newly converted condominium units now have tenants living in them again, because condo complexes aren't included in the industry's apartment surveys. But faced with a slump in sales, individual investors and professional converters alike have added enough condo units to the local rental pool since March to cause the apartment market's occupancy rate to drop for the first time in more than three years."

"Jim Lewis, president of a Maitland research company, said the sharp drop in apartment occupancy, from a record-high 96.4 percent in March to 94.1 percent in September, came as a surprise. 'We scratched our heads and concluded the biggest factor was the several thousand conversions out there that are rented' but not included in local apartment surveys, the researcher said. 'No one knows just how many. It's a shadow market.'"

"Angela Paradiso is a small real-estate investor who owns three condominium units: two in downtown Orlando and one in Altamonte Springs. She has tenants in all three and charges 'very competitive rents,' she says, 'because I want to keep them occupied.'"

"Developers have backed off dramatically from last year's record-setting pace of conversions, but thousands of apartment units are still being snapped up for makeovers into condos. Just since March, Lewis said, more than 5,500 rental units have been converted to condos in Metro Orlando."

"'Conversions are still coming on line, even though many [converters] are renting while they wait for the market to come back,' Lewis said."

"Broker Luis Casanas, opened an office in Orlando to focus on condo sales and rentals in MetroWest, where thousands of rentals have been converted during the past couple of years. Casanas estimates that anywhere from a third to a half of those converted condos are now for rent. 'There are plenty of rentals available in MetroWest,' he said."

"Condo conversions were a national phenomenon in 2004-05 in the country's growth markets, but the question of how many remain rentals isn't known, said Mark Obrinski, chief economist for a Washington-based apartment-industry trade group."

"'That's the big question when apartment researchers get together,' Obrinski said. Some rental-property investors, he said, are assuming for planning purposes that one-third of all conversions in any given market are staying in the rental pool, while the rest have been occupied by the people who bought them."

"'But that's not backed by any real data,' Obrinski said."

"Tony Martin, VP of Tarragon South Development Corp., said that in some rental communities, as many as 50 percent of the units have been bought by investors who didn't move into them after taking ownership. Many of those investors were hoping to profit from quick resales, but because for now they can't find a buyer at a price they'll accept, they have begun renting to tenants while waiting out the market slump, Martin said."

"But with rising property taxes and insurance in Florida, investors are finding it tough to break even, said Patrick Skinner, an apartment broker in Orlando."

"Paradiso, the investor, was aware of that problem when she bought her three units. The rent money from her three condo units falls about 20 percent short each month of covering her expenses, she said. But at some point, she insisted, the rental income will exceed her expenses, and the properties will appreciate in value."

"'I'm looking at things long-term,' she said."

The Naples News. "The furniture business in Southwest Florida is getting a new look. Street walkers hold up signs advertising the closing of Spectrum Home Furnishings on Davis Boulevard and on U.S. 41 North. The stores from East Naples to Cape Coral are draped in brightly colored 'Going out of Business' signs."

"Blame it on the real estate market that has sagged like an old easy chair. Naples resident John Munzenrieder, who has run Spectrum Home Furnishings for more than 20 years, does."

"When condo sales dropped by 50 percent after the market turned last year, business dropped by almost that much at Spectrum, Munzenrieder said. 'It's kind of funny. Two years ago was the best year we ever had in sales and profitability and when things slowed down, they slowed down very drastically,' he said."

"Spectrum isn't alone. Brown's Interiors has closed after more than 35 years in business. A going-out-of-business sale ended Thursday. Though the owner isn't talking about the reasons for closing, some in the business say they think it has something to do with the sluggish market they've experienced themselves."

"'There are some people really hurting,' said David Dann, who has been the manager of Badcock Home Furnishings in Golden Gate for 21 years. 'I brought this store up from scratch. And I've seen nothing like this at all.'"

"Two weeks ago, he attended a companywide meeting for Badcock in Lakeland and for the first time that he can remember stores in Florida were at the bottom of the graph for sales. Florida stores are usually at or near the top, Dann said. It may be a really hard Christmas, he said."

"Dave Annand, sales manager at Haverty's Furniture in North Naples, said business at his store began to slow at the beginning of the year. He understands the reluctance to purchase furniture. He has two homes that he bought as investments and hasn't been able to sell. Until he does, he's not buying new furniture for his new house, he said."