The News Herald reports from Florida. "In line with the rest of Florida, Panama City’s home sales declined in March as the state saw significant drops in most metropolitan-area housing markets. There were 814 sales spread across all Panama City MLS housing categories in the first three months. That compares to 984 sales in the first three months of 2006, said Association President Scott Bowman. 'I just don’t see that sales have picked up,' Bowman said."

"Area real estate broker Evan Brusilow, said...some condos were selling for $305 to $310 per square foot, a figure he described as '2003 dollars.'"

The News Press. "Daphne and Randolph Sewell thought they were risking only $15,000 in the summer of 2005 when they took out $750,000 in construction loans for three First Home Builders houses in Lee County."

"But in today’s market the houses are worth less than those loans and the tenants who were supposed to defray the Sewells’ mortgage payments never materialized."

"'We’re facing financial ruin,' said Daphne Sewell."

"On their combined income of less than $90,000 a year, the couple couldn’t afford to make the roughly $6,000 a month in payments on the houses if they bought them, she said. Now the couple, who live in Broward County, face foreclosure by First Florida Bank on two of the houses."

"The Sewells’ lawyer, Gary Poliakoff of Fort Lauderdale, said his clients 'kind of naively signed all these documents' without realizing the consequences. 'The Sewells are people who are hard-working individuals with family. They’re somewhat unsophisticated about making investments,' Poliakoff said."

"He said...the prospectus included language that adds up to securities fraud. For example, it states: 'Investors will receive a gross return of 14 percent of the sales price of the home. The 14 percent is contractually agreed upon by the tenant before occupancy.'"

"In addition, Poliakoff said, 'There’s a word in there that jumps off the page — that they will 'coach' the tenant on how to qualify for a mortgage. What the hell does that mean? It sounds like mortgage fraud.'"

The Star Banner. "While existing-home sales in the Ocala area last month continued to rebound, the number of homes sold was down 33 percent from the same month a year ago when the local real estate market was still red hot."

"(Realtor) Bert Meadows said the real estate boom of the last couple of years was an anomaly, and said most Realtors would be happy to see sales figures similar to those witnessed in 2003 or 2004."

"'I think it was an unusual time in the market,' he said of the frenzied sales period."

"There's still lots of inventory on the market. Realtor Judy Disney-DiFranco said she's seeing more homes are being listed than are being sold and prices are falling. Buyers have the advantage, she said."

"'It's still a buyer's market,' Disney-DiFranco said."

The News Journal. "Volusia foreclosure filings have averaged 450 a month since January, compared with a 175 monthly average during 2006. In Flagler, the caseload growth has been even sharper: 90 a month since January, up from a 36 monthly average during 2006, the RealtyTrac figures show."

"Social service agencies say area foreclosures have risen significantly over the past year, and the worst may be yet to come."

"'There's over $1 trillion in adjustable mortgage debt that's going to readjust this year around the nation, and that's going to create havoc,' said Richard N. Schram, spokesman for the Consumer Counseling Credit Service of Central Florida & Tampa Bay."

"Higher interest charges are just part of the problem, Schram said. Rising insurance and property-tax bills are pumping up monthly escrow payments by hundreds of dollars. 'We have seen cases of some monthly payments jumping by $800 to $900 a month,' Schram said."

The Palm Beach Post. "With home prices still falling and mortgage foreclosures rising, builders won't see better days until the end of the year, industry economists said Thursday."

"'We're definitely looking for further price erosion,' David Seiders, chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders, said at the trade group's Spring Construction Forecast Conference."

"The key problem is the glut of unsold homes and rental properties choking the market. 'Both are running very high,' he said. 'We're heavily oversupplied.'"

"The construction plunge is far more severe in South Florida than in most other areas, because the boom there was greater in 2003 and 2004. In the Miami-Fort Lauderdale region, housing starts this year will decline nearly 35 percent from the previous year, to just 20,200, according to association data."

"South Florida home building will recover eventually, but 'there is a big overhang, so it's going to take a while,' said Patrick Lawler, chief economist for the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight."

"With South Florida's hot economy, many Baby Boomers hurried to buy condos before prices rose he said. 'You start to see prices rising, so you think, 'I better do this quick,' but that clearly bred some speculation,' he said. With the accelerated demand, builders too got carried away and flooded the market, he said."

The Herald Tribune. "Joseph Pufta, the former CEO of a home building company that abandoned 50 home sites in North Port after taking money for construction work that was never completed, has turned himself in to authorities."

"Avalon is one of three area home builders to have collapsed since the real estate bubble burst last year, but Pufta is the only local building executive to face criminal charges."

"'I hope the charges stick,' said Sheila Schaller, a massage therapist from Michigan who contracted with Avalon in March 2005 to build her family's home on San Mateo Drive. 'I hope he doesn't plead out. I don't want it to be a slap on the wrist.'"

"Schaller, like many of Avalon's customers, knew something was wrong when subcontractors started levying liens on her home because they were not paid."

"Pufta's grand theft charge stems from a case where police say a New Jersey woman wrote Avalon Homes a check for $42,180, yet no work was done. According to an arrest affidavit, Avalon Homes cashed Isabel Soto-Mercado's personal check Aug. 16, 2005."

"When Detective Lenny Hills visited her home site in February of this year, 18 months later, it was still an overgrown vacant lot."

"'It was very awful,' Soto-Mercado, said in a telephone interview from New Jersey, where she and her husband remain while they figure out what to do with their abandoned home site. 'Not only did we give him money, but we paid for the lot and have no house.'"