The St Petersburg Times reports from Florida. "Bruce Sparks painted a bright red '4 SALE' sign on his home's roof in September, hoping to attract a buyer for his waterfront home. It was a desperate attempt by a man who had hoped to flip the house for a quick profit. Now, several months later, the house remains unsold, and Sparks is facing foreclosure, said Richard Doyle, Spark's real estate agent."

"'The market shift is creating hardships for many property owners,' Doyle said."

"Four Percent of listed homes that sold in November, less than one-third the sales rate of a year ago. The nmber of homes for sale in Pinellas County in last month was 16,000, compared to 6,000 in October 2005. $192,000 Median price for a single family home in November, down from the January 2006 price of $210,000."

"Sparks, who could not be reached for comment, bought his 1960s ranch-style home in March. He paid $1.32-million for the property, which last sold for $275,000 more than a decade ago."

"Sparks then put the two-bedroom home back on the market for $1.6-million, hoping to realize a quick profit. Instead, he found himself with a home that did not sell. Faced with foreclosure, Sparks dropped the price to just over $1-million and, according to Doyle, is taking any reasonable offer to the bank in an effort to forestall foreclosure."

"'We hope this will be a short sale,' Doyle said. 'We have several offers the bank is considering.'"

The Naples News. "Despite the fact that real estate prices dropped in 2006, mortgage foreclosures were up nearly 300 percent in November in Collier compared with the same month last year, court records show."

"People like Scott Hopkins are struggling, even though he earns more than the area median income of $66,100 a year. The three-bedroom townhouse Hopkins bought for $367,000 in November costs $9,000 a year in taxes, insurance, and mortgage insurance. By the time Hopkins pays the principal, interest and condo fees, he's spending nearly half his annual income on housing."

"'How is that affordable?' he asks, anger rising in his voice."

"The drop in real estate prices has helped some. In 2005, fewer than a handful of single-family homes were selling for less than $300,000. Last week, the real estate MLS showed 305 single-family homes for less than $300,000. And nearly 1,000 condos were for sale for less than $250,000."

The Herald Tribune. "In a post-boom residential market where sellers are having a tough time making buyers get out their checkbooks, both builders and individual home sellers are throwing in a lot more than the kitchen sink."

"Southwest Florida is by no means alone in facing a downturn in housing sales. In this region, the news was even worse. Sales fell by the same third, but the median price was 11 percent lower than a year ago."

"With the home builders wheeling and dealing, it is not surprising to see individual sellers adding special incentives to their listings. Katrina Taylor has been trying to sell her one-bedroom downtown condominium for a year. She has already reduced the asking price from $465,000 to $325,900."

"Now she is throwing in a $5,000 bonus for the agent who shows up with a contract. 'There are price reductions everywhere,' said her agent, Steve Ivan. 'I've got price reductions on every listing I have. They are finally facing the reality that they really have to reduce, and that is with a capital R. But this one in particular has a great bonus.'"

"'And I am willing to throw in some of my commission money, not all of it, but I am willing to help out, and she is willing to negotiate, even at that price,' Ivan said."

"Steve Rinehart is getting ready to build a 114-unit subdivision in Manatee County, and he needs to clear the decks of some leftover inventory from his last project, a group of homes in eastern Sarasota County."

"The original prices on the remaining Secluded Oaks homes were $825,000, $740,000 and $700,000. Now they are $750,000, $690,000 and $650,000. Adding fuel to the fire, Rinehart is working with a bank that will offer 100 percent financing on those homes."

"At this particular moment, appraisals are coming in higher than transaction prices, which makes the 100 percent loan more feasible, he said. During the boom years of 2003-05, appraisals often did not meet market value. Now, the reverse is often true."

"'Prices are coming down, people are trying to get out and appraisals are still working with some of the market value that was during our hot time,' Rinehart said."

"The time to get that kind of loan? 'While appraisals are still coming in real good,' he said."

"Southwest Florida's slow-mo real estate market has Bradenton real estate agent Frank Maruca settling into the leather seats of a 2007 Lexus ES 350. Maruca has the distinction of being the only agent who took advantage of Neal Communities' summer 2006 sales incentive program aimed at moving inventory homes the company built in East Manatee County."

"In perhaps another sign of the times, Maruca won the prize by selling houses to his own family, one to his brother, one to his daughter and one to himself."