The News Press reports from Florida. "A chance at irresistible real estate deals attracted more than 300 sellers, bidders, speculators and spectators to a packed South Fort Myers hotel conference room. A market adjustment started about one year ago and intensified throughout the year, creating a surplus of homes and a buyer's market."

"'"We got a lot of offers. We put a lot of deals together,' said Jeff Miloff of Miloff Aubuchon Realty Group. 'A lot of people are bottom feeding.'"

"But the success of the auction is hard to measure until closing time on Tuesday. That’s the deadline for people with property on the auction block to decide if they will accept the bid on their property."

"The first two properties sold Saturday were waterfront Cape Coral homes. The first went for $385,000, well below the $690,000 value listed on the Lee County property appraiser’s Web site. The second home went for $400,000, considerably above the property appraiser’s value of $255,810."

"Estero residents Greg and Kim Seiss were there to sell their condominium in The Greens, but left disappointed. The condominium is valued at $163,000, but bidding stopped $120,000."

"Mary and Clarence Hilbert of Cape Coral don’t know what to expect now that they were successful bidders at $390,000 for a waterfront Cape Coral home. 'We believe it’s an investment property. It’s in a good location,' said Mary Hilbert. But they might decide to live there, she noted."

"'The price is about where we thought it would be,' Hilbert said. The bid still has to be approved by the owner, Hilbert noted. 'Sellers have their needs, too,' she said."

The News Journal. "Selling a home in the Pensacola Bay Area used to be all about location and price. But these days, it's a buyer's market, and homebuilders and sellers increasingly have to sweeten the deal with a variety of freebies to get properties sold."

"Doug Gooch, newly installed president of the Pensacola Association of Realtors, said his group is working to get the word out to Realtors and buyers about the array of state and federal lending programs, especially for first-time home buyers."

"'An agent in our office just sold a house to a 21-year-old with no money down,' said Gooch. 'It's always been our position to try and help anyone get into a home.'"

The Naples News. "The Naples Area Board of Realtors has released fourth quarter statistics for home listings and sales in Naples, utilizing the board’s local reporting format."

"New listings are up from third quarter, reflecting both sellers’ renewed confidence in the market as well as new investor/developer units being added to the marketplace."

"The overall trend for median pricing is holding steady with an upward trend line, reflecting the long-term value of Naples properties. The figure is significantly higher than 2004, although below the record numbers of 2005. The recent short-term down trend in median sold price is likely indicative of some over-extended investors electing to unload the properties at discounted prices."

"Inventory: 11,000; approximately an 18-month supply."

The Herald Tribune. "About six weeks ago, Benjamin Ramirez, a framing subcontractor from Bradenton, who has worked in the United States illegally for about eight years, was called to a meeting with Lennar Homes. Ramirez, who had subcontracted for Lennar for three years, was told there would be no more work."

"No one is certain how much this shift will affect the local economy. 'That distress is going to percolate through the economy,' said Ralph Gentile, senior economist with McGraw-Hill Construction."

"Though the overall unemployment level has remained relatively unchanged in Florida, unemployment claims in construction have risen 63.37 percent since June."

"That measure greatly underestimates what is going on because of the vast number of undocumented workers in the sector and its heavy reliance on subcontractors. 'Many of these workers may never have been included in the jobs figures,' said Mark Vitner, a Wachovia Bank economist."

"The best documentation of what is happening comes from the workers. Benjamin Ramirez and his brother said construction jobs in Southwest Florida have evaporated. 'Last year was nice. Everybody had a job. And there were a lot of houses to build,' Ricardo Ramirez said. 'This year there's no work.'"

"Consumers might want to go without wind coverage, and may decide on a higher deductible in return for lower rates, but mortgage companies could keep these options from producing what the Florida Legislature wants: lower property insurance rates for all consumers."

"Fannie Mae has already indicated it won't buy mortgages on Florida homes that don't have wind coverage, said Bret Rock, spokesman for the Florida Bankers Association. The secondary market is also likely to balk at agreements with deductibles higher than 10 percent; the most common policy has a 2 percent deductible."

"'It's just tricky when it comes to that because it puts our members in a position of making decisions knowing that they can't sell it to the secondary market,' Rock said."

The Sun Sentinel. "Just a year ago, the condo conversion craze was reducing the inventory of apartments in South Florida. Now that the condo conversion craze is over and the condo market is in the midst of a slowdown, many analysts expect a number of condos to revert to rental stock."

"That will occur either by developers abandoning plans to convert to condos or by speculators, who are being forced to rent their units because they can't flip them."

"In Miami-Dade County, developers are returning to apartment construction. About 1,000 additional rental units are expected to hit the market in 2007, up from 40 units last year."

"Kirk Felici, regional manager of the Miami office of Marcus & Millichap, said that investors seeking apartments to purchase are looking for cash flow and yield, and planning to hold onto their assets rather than convert them. 'They're returning to fundamentals,' he said."