The Florida realtors have the December numbers out. "Sales of existing homes and condos in Florida were down in December. A total of 12,415 existing single-family homes sold statewide last month, a decrease of 28 percent from the 17,215 homes sold during the previous December, according to the Florida Association of Realtors."

"Looking to Florida's existing condominium market, sales also declined in December with a total of 3,788 condos sold statewide compared to 5,428 in December 2005 for a 30 percent decrease, according to FAR."

The Sun Sentinel. "The median price of an existing Broward County home last month was $367,600, off $1,400 from $369,000 in December 2005. The year-over-year decline wasn't as sharp as in previous months. Palm Beach County's December median was $368,200, a $40,000 decline from $408,200 in December 2005."

"Broward had 1 foreclosure for every 35 households in 2006, RealtyTrac said. Broward had 21,144 foreclosures last year, up 56.5 percent from 13,514 in 2005. Palm Beach County had 1 foreclosure for every 51 households in 2006. The county had 10,915 foreclosures in 2006, up 29 percent from 8,454 in 2005."

The News Press. "Sales of existing homes plummeted 45 percent in December, compared to a year ago, according to FAR. The median price also dropped, from $322,300 to $262,500, down 19 percent from a year ago."

"Percentage-wise, Lee County saw the biggest decline in the state. Statewide, the numbers of sales dropped 30 percent, while the median price saw a decline of 2 percent from $205,500 to $200,600."

From TC Palm. "(FAR) says that single-family home sales in the Fort Pierce-Port St. Lucie metropolitan statistical area, which includes Stuart, dropped 27 percent to 330 closings in December from levels of the same month in 2005. Sales of existing single-family homes in the Vero Beach area, tracked by the Realtors Association of Indian River County, dropped 22 percent."

"Prices on the Treasure Coast also declined from the previous December. In the Fort Pierce-Port St. Lucie area, the median home price fell 9 percent to $240,000. Vero Beach's median home price fell 6 percent to $220,000."

The Herald Tribune. "Pressure continued in December on home sellers to lower their prices. The median sales price for homes sold during December in the Sarasota-Bradenton market was $284,700, down 17 percent when compared with the same month last year."

"Though Coast Bank officials are downplaying the financial turmoil brought to their business by a floundering Southwest Florida home builder, there are strong indications that the problems will grow in coming weeks."

"Most of the $110 million in troubled construction loans that Coast has on its books were made to out-of-state investors, people more likely to walk away from their obligations to the bank."

"Customers who bought homes are becoming more and more convinced that they were defrauded by a group of home-building, mortgage and real estate companies that lured them into risky real estate investments in various Florida developments during the market's boom years."

"Fernando Cacoilo, the owner of Jodfer Land Service, started clearing and grading home sites for CCI two years ago, and the demand quickly consumed his small business. Now he finds himself short $1 million."

"He has filed 186 liens against CCI home buyers for bills of $3,000 to $15,000. 'Fifty percent of my work was from CCI because they just kept pushing, pushing, pushing,' Cacoilo said."

"CCI kept him busy, but the company never paid a bill in full, Cacoilo said. Other subcontractors were strung along the same way, he said. 'As long as we kept getting a check every week, we were all OK,' he said. 'My dumb ass didn't pay attention to the billing.'"

"Before the work stopped, CCI principals were driving Hummers, and construction supervisors new pickup trucks, Cacoilo said. All the contact from customers that Cacoilo has had makes him wonder where the money went. 'I keep getting calls from homeowners that I liened: 'CCI drew $127,000 on my home, and all I got is dirt with a pad on it,' he said."

"Developers facing a downturn in the housing market want a freebie from Palm Beach County traffic rules. The Gold Coast Builders Association asked the County Commission for a two-year 'blanket extension' of building deadlines for all developments."

"'These guys always say, 'Let the market decide,' said Joanne Davis, spokeswoman for (a) watchdog group. 'When the market decides against them, then they want government to decide. They can't have it both ways.'"

"'Too many homes got built because of the speculation boom,' real estate analyst Bradley Hunter said. 'The correction is beginning.'"

"Benderson Development's plan to build 1,750 new homes next to a new mall seems a bit riskier. A glut of housing has other builders scaling back. 'This project might be ahead of its time,' said (consultant) Jack McCabe. Noting that the median price of homes sold in this market is down 18 percent from last year, McCabe said it is 'an optimistic endeavor to start this type of project in a declining marketplace.'"

"Real estate agent Clay Hyslop's client bought a two-bedroom condominium on Flagler Drive in 2005, but didn't spend much time there and needs to sell it. Easier said than done in today's housing market."

"'Sometimes there aren't buyers,' Hyslop said. 'It's like having the best lemonade stand in the middle of the desert.'"

"So Hyslop persuaded the seller to try something different: listing the West Palm Beach condo in a public auction Saturday in Hollywood. Roughly 160 properties, most of them in South Florida, will be auctioned at the event."

"Nicole Hollander, president of Auction USA, said she expects plenty of below-market sales at this event as the housing slump lingers in this region. Some sellers in the auction paid $1,500 for the right to turn down the highest bid. But others paid nothing and have agreed to sell to the highest bidder, regardless of price."

"Two sellers who tried unsuccessfully to list their properties in the auction broke down and cried, Hollander said. 'There was almost a desperation in people's voices,' she said."

"Richard Lane, a full-time investor, figures the auction is his best chance to sell his house in Hollywood. He bought a home with a pool early last year for $344,000. He said he sank $47,000 into renovations and put it back on the market in May."

"Carrying costs are about $3,500 a month, and the longer the property sits unsold the more money Lane loses. 'I've had a million agents call me and say they want to list it,' he said. 'But nobody wants to bring me a buyer.'"