The Palm Beach Post reports from Florida. "The region's once-sizzling housing market has simmered to a showdown. Some market watchers believe home prices are the object of a high-stakes tug of war. The result has been a painful slowdown with a ripple effect that has even local retailers crying foul as they see their sales dip."

"As the song says, 'Something's gotta give,' and experts are betting that sellers will blink first. And when they do, they'll see a buyer's market." 'Palm Beach County teacher Stephen Luzinski wonders why prices have not already come down more. 'I am still waiting for prices to fall,' said Luzinski, who's looking to buy his first home."

"'It seems that most sellers are still looking to double, triple or quadruple what they paid for their house,' he said."

"Such seller attitudes are unlikely to last, according to real estate forecasters. Primarily because there are just too many homes on the market. Nationwide, the number of vacant unsold units in the first quarter of this year set a record, the U.S. Commerce Department said recently, continuing a sharp upward trend that started last year."

"David Seiders, chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders, puts the number at an 'excess of about 1.4 million.'"

"The median price of an existing single-family home in Palm Beach County fell from $388,000 in January to $375,100 in March. The number of unsold homes on the market from Boca Raton to Vero Beach has been steadily rising, surging to a record 24,028 homes for sale in March, according to Illustrated Properties Real Estate."

"That's a 27-month supply at the March sales pace. The same month a year ago, there were 18,178 unsold homes."

"'The biggest problem for single-family medium-priced homes is the beginning of this flood of foreclosures,' Delray Beach developer Frank McKinney said."

"'The change from a sellers' market to a buyer's market is going to make for some strange bedfellows,' said William Cozart, chief executive of the Realtors Association of the Palm Beaches. 'A reduction in prices of somewhere between 5 percent and 10 percent will start the pendulum swinging in the right direction.'"

"That would make the median price of an existing home somewhere between $340,000 and $350,000, he said. That's still too high for many local buyers. Hamstrung by a subprime mortgage meltdown that has forced lenders to become more stingy with credit, prospective buyers no longer can qualify for loans."

"'Lenders have tightened standards. I am probably losing two buyers because of it,' West Palm Beach Realtor Randy Bianchi said. 'We had them all set with a credit score of 702. Then it dropped to 698, and those four little points made a big difference.'"

"The financing disappeared, he said. 'The program was no longer available to them.' 'Just four points,' Bianchi said, his voice trailing off in disbelief. 'Unbelievable.'"

"The new Marina Grande condominium seems like the dream residence for the Florida lifestyle. So why have so many Marina Grande buyers changed their minds about living there?"

"During the past year, two dozen lawsuits have been filed by buyers wanting out of contracts for about 30 units in the $200 million waterfront project."

"Marina Grande is by no means the only Palm Beach County project losing favor with buyers. Growing numbers of home buyers have begun running to the courts exploiting any remedy to get out of pre-construction contracts on houses, townhouses and condos throughout South Florida."

"Buyers who signed sales contracts months or even years ago expecting to flip properties for fat profits now realize they might not be able to sell into this market slump."

"'If the market had continued soaring, these people would have closed on their contracts, and this lawsuit never would have been filed,' said Michael MuÒiz, a Boca Raton lawyer. MuÒiz represents Hovstone Properties Florida, which 16 buyers are suing, trying to get out of their contracts to buy at Monteverde, a Boynton Beach condominium."

"'What's really changed is the market,' said said Fort Lauderdale attorney Maurice Garcia, who represents Marina Grande. 'Not anything else.'"

"Garcia alleges that buyers are making excuses to get out of their deals by complaining about minor changes, such as the number of parking spaces. Or the exterior color of the building."

"Delray Beach lawyer Brian Lipshy represents 16 buyers suing Hovstone Properties. The buyers want out of the Monteverde condo because they say Hovstone has changed the deal."

"The buyers contend that Hovstone's decision to build only two of four planned buildings makes the project a 'phased' condo, in violation of contract terms. Lipshy said his clients might not have bought into the project if they knew up front that Monteverde wasn't going to be built all at once."

"Although court documents show that Hovstone Properties admits Monteverde is being built in stages because of sluggish sales and hurricane fears, lawyer MuÒiz said the lawsuit is nothing more than speculators trying to avoid closing on their contracts."

"The sides have been duking it out in court for months, and the matter shows no signs of being settled. Lipshy said it's a sign of the times: 'I've filed more lawsuits in the past six months than in all my years as an attorney,' he said."

The Sun Sentinel. "When Denise McGill moved to Palm Beach County from rural North Carolina two years ago, she was stunned at the high cost of housing. So she found a roommate and resigned herself to renting."

"'In retrospect, I definitely did the right thing,' said McGill. 'I'm so glad I didn't buy because I would have bought at the peak of the market.'"

"Changes at the Spring Harbor apartment complex in Delray Beach are typical of those across the region. It briefly converted to condos, only to revert back to rentals when sales didn't meet expectations."

"Meanwhile, developers are building more apartments. The batch of new units and a rising inventory of investor-owned rentals are providing more of a selection and easing rent increases that were so common in the past four years."

"'Vacancy is lost money,' said said Susan Harding, publisher of the Boca Raton-based Southeast Florida Apartment Guide. 'So we're seeing a lot more concessions out there designed to get people moved in.'"

"Lenders are tightening credit standards, keeping potential homeowners in the rental pool. Others realize home prices won't increase as fast as they have in recent years, economist Sam Chandan said."

"'That pressure to buy isn't there,' he said. 'I think that may tip things in favor of renting.'"

"Ron Witten, owner of a Dallas-based apartment advisory firm, agrees. 'There remains a degree of uncertainty about housing prices,' he said. 'And if [price] is important to you as a buyer, then waiting's the safe way to go.'"