The Florida realtors have the May numbers out. "Statewide sales of existing single-family homes in Florida totaled 12,607 in May and were more in line with activity in May 2002, prior to the housing boom years, than the May 2006 figures of 19,072 homes sold for a 34 percent decrease in the year-to-year comparison, according to the Florida Association of Realtors."

"Florida’s median sales price for existing single-family homes last month was $237,000; a year ago, it was $250,100 for a 5 percent decrease. Sales of existing condominiums in Florida also decreased last month, with a total of 4,090 condos sold statewide compared to 5,671 in May 2006 for a 28 percent decline, according to FAR."

The Sun Sentinel. "The spring home-selling season came to a dismal end in South Florida last month."

"Sales of existing homes plummeted 33 percent in Broward County from a year ago, while Palm Beach County saw sales slide 25 percent, the Florida Association of Realtors said Monday."

"The market for existing condominiums in Broward also was down in May. Sales fell 29 percent from a year ago and the median price declined 5 percent to $202,600."

The Naples News. "May housing sales figures released Monday paint an unsettling picture of the market both locally and around the state. The local statistics were punctuated by a 42 percent drop in the number of single-family home sales in May in Lee County as compared to May 2006, and a 29 percent decrease in the median price of a condominum in Lee County during the same timeframe."

"The median price of a single-family home in Lee County was down 2 percent from May 2006, dropping from $286,500 to $281,500. The number of condo sales in Lee County was also way down from a year earlier, dipping 22 percent from the 250 that were sold in May 2006."

The Naples News. "In Charlotte County, prices were down 12 percent from $213,400 to $186,900 and sales were off 39 percent from 387 to 235."

"Complete information for Collier County was not available because the Naples Area Board of Realtors no longer reports its statistics to the state association."

The Palm Beach Post. "Existing single-family homes sales for May fell 25 percent in Palm Beach County, to 741 from 982 in May 2006, the Florida Association of Realtors said today. The median price fell 1 percent, to $387,800 from $391,000 in May 2006, FAR said."

"In The Treasure Coast, existing single-family home sales fell 39 percent, to 315 from 519 in May 2006, FAR said. The median price fell 9 percent, to $228,500 from $252,300 in May 2006, FAR said."

"'The wave of speculative investors seeking a quick profit appears to be gone, and now we have a more normal market, with buyers interested in investing in a personal dream and finding a home,' said Norma Mirsky, president of the Palm Beach Board of Realtors.""

A sonic boom waiting to happen, Gov. Charlie Crist calls it. A racehorse that's been reined in. An engine that cannot run on all of its cylinders. His subject: Florida's economy. The culprit: high property taxes."

"So with a new, two-piece package through the legislature, Crist abandoned all restraint with his metaphorical flourishes last week."

"'I think it will fire up our economy. Florida is like a thoroughbred and...she's been held back,' he said moments after signing two new laws on the matter. 'We'll have an opportunity to get this engine going again, fire this baby up and make sure that this economy will not just boom, but have a sonic boom.'"

"Economists and real estate agents generally agree that the new constitutional amendment would, if adopted, spur considerable home-buying activity."

"'It'll be an absolute boon to first-time home buyers,' said Patricia Fitzgerald, a Jupiter real estate agent and secretary of the Florida Association of Realtors.'"

"A Palm Beach Post analysis of the proposal shows that buyers of a $150,000 home would save about $141, or 13 percent, off their total monthly mortgage and escrow payment under the new plan. The buyers of a $250,000 home would save $219 per month, with the amounts and percentages dwindling as the purchase price increases."

"The rapid increases in prices have made the typical house unaffordable for the typical family in Florida, according to the report by the Shimberg Center for Affordable Housing at the University of Florida. The median household in Palm Beach County earned only 51 percent of the income needed to buy a median home there, according to the study."

"So the main problem for many would-be home buyers, particularly in South Florida, where prices escalated the most, is a $350,000 or $400,000 house, not the taxes and insurance on that house, FSU's Holcombe said."

"'Demographically, Florida is likely to become more like San Francisco,' said Randall Holcombe, a Florida State University economics professor, describing how that city is closing schools because families with children cannot afford to live there. 'Eventually, no one would be able to afford anything.'"

The Miami Herald. "Allan Bense, chairman of the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission, which is empowered once every 20 years to place tax and budget amendments on the November ballot, said that when the group meets again on Tuesday he will suggest they discuss Plan B: What to do if voters reject the amendment lawmakers have put on the Jan. 29 ballot."

"The Florida Constitution requires the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission to convene in 2007 for the second time in Florida history, only 17 years after the first one met in 1990. But the coincidence of the panel meeting in a year when tax issues dominate the agenda is not lost on its members."

"'You cannot blame communists or the Trilateral Commission,' said Carlos Lacasa, a commission member and former Miami state legislator. 'The fact that the real estate bubble coincided with the timing of the commission was pure coincidence.'"

"Lacasa also believes that because the Legislature's two-part property tax plan won't solve the problem, the issue will 'overshadow everything until it's resolved.'"

The Herald Tribune. "The thousands of new homes in the works for the land east of Interstate 75 in Southwest Florida are providing ample opportunities for home builders. Even with the precipitous drop in new home construction around the region, a growing list of construction firms are moving into the region."

"'They follow the rooftops,' said Jay Brady, executive director of the Gulf Coast Builders Exchange, a Sarasota-Manatee group of commercial builders, architects and engineers with 350 members."

"'We see enough opportunity to be a profitable organization, without a doubt,' said Gregory F. Galmin, the Tower Group's executive VP. 'We are not here to put anyone out of business, but we will be aggressive and we will be knocking on our competitors' doors.'"