The Miami Herald reports from Florida. "Boca Developers is considering a bulk sale of unsold units at three South Florida projects, in a proposed deal that shows how builders are grappling with the ongoing slowdown in the housing market. Boca Developers CEO Brian Street said the Deerfield Beach company is considering all options to sell its inventory."

"'These are the worst of times for condo development,' said Street, whose company is among the biggest condo builders in South Florida. 'Everybody is trying to get inventory reduced and debt threshold diminished. Everyone is trying to get some sort of deal done, us included. But we simply aren't there yet.'"

"Under the proposal, many of the units would be rented following the bulk sale with the idea of later trying to sell them when the residential market improves."

"'This is a sign of the times,' said real estate analyst Michael Cannon. 'We see this in every real estate cycle. When a project in not marketable the capital investor wants to either get out of the project or minimize his investment. In this case they are trying to get a vulture fund to buy and hold.'"

"Street's efforts to unload units come a year after he made a major bet in South Florida residential real estate by buying out his partner in the Biscayne Landing project. The massive development in North Miami is ultimately supposed to have some 6,000 residential units."

"'I don't regret buying Swerdlow out,' Street said. 'It was the right decision. Do I like our timing? Of course not.'"

The Bradenton Herald. "The move by developers of Tarpon Pointe, a two-tower condo project approved for downtown a year ago, to seek an extension doesn't come as a surprise to city planners."

"A slowdown in condominium sales has several projects stalling, with other developers having applied for similar extensions and rethinking how they'll do their projects."

"As to whether the delays are a negative omen for the future of downtown projects, those invested in them shake their heads no. 'It's not a wait-and-see attitude,' said project co-developer Ron Allen. 'But we're going to move cautiously until the market tends to rebound itself some.'"

"Local Realtor Leslie Wells has seen some parts of the market stay steady, and from a Realtor's perspective, now is the time to buy property. But for developers, she said, 'they just need to see how long can they hold on and how long can they wait.'"

"Empty houses are multiplying. Florida's Miami Dade County has a 31-month supply of existing condos on the market. About 20,000 new ones will be completed by the end of 2008, says Jack McCabe, a consultant in Deerfield Beach, Fla."

"He says about two-thirds of those have been sold, but many buyers are canceling orders rather than taking possession of a depreciating asset."

The Herald Tribune. "The Manatee condo market is not only plagued by a lengthening list of unsold residences and plummeting prices, but developers are being hit by a flurry of lawsuits filed by buyers who want out of their contracts."

"Twenty-one suits have been filed in the past 18 months, with most of them arguing that developers breached terms of sales agreements by failing to complete construction in two years."

"At the same time, condo buyers in Manatee have defaulted on 22 loans since January 2006, forcing bankers to put properties back on the market at the worst possible moment."

"But instead of easing back on construction in the face of these trends as their counterparts in Sarasota are doing, Manatee developers are planning to bring 3,307 units out of the ground by the end of 2009, Orlando economist Hank Fishkind's projections show."

"'Stuff has to come off market one way or another,' said Scott Norris, a condo specialist in Bradenton. 'We have to get rid of supply.'"

"'When the market was booming, quite a few investors were thinking they could buy and flip for a profit,' said Chris Kawcak, a Manatee county condo specialist. 'For a period of time, it worked great. But it gave developers a false sense of demand. That's why so many rushed to do conversions and put up buildings.'"

"In Miami alone, developers will deliver 8,000 units this year and 12,000 next year. That comes on top of the more than 20,000 unsold units already clogging the market."

"In Southwest Florida, the situation is proportionally similar. The result is that Sarasota County's inventory of unsold condos reached 2,588 in March, a 447 percent increase from March 2005."

"In Manatee, inventories rose twice as fast, swelling 851 percent to 2,246 during the same time period. But Norris thinks inventory numbers do not tell the whole story. 'Developers and condo converters have not put everything they have in the MLS,' Norris said. 'They are holding quite a lot back.'"

"Given the bleak market situation in Manatee, it is no wonder buyers have responded the way they have. As in Sarasota, many have put their units back on the market. Others are walking away from deposits, believing it better to lose $60,000 now than to tie up $600,000 and assume the monthly carrying costs of a condo that cannot easily be sold."

"'We're seeing an incredible amount of walkaways statewide,' said consultant Jack McCabe."

"Some buyers are not satisfied with walking away from their contracts, though. They want their deposits back. That is why the number of lawsuits filed by buyers against developers is way up this year. Fourteen have been filed in the first five months of 2007, compared with just seven in all of 2006."

"Lawyers representing developers said the real reason their clients were being sued had nothing to do with the stated reason in their lawsuits. 'They obviously bought for investment purposes and no longer think the condo is worth the contract price,' said John Chapman, a Sarasota attorney who represents the developers of the Bel Mare condo tower. 'If they did, they would close on the properties and flip them.'"

"In the meantime, 19 Manatee condo buyers have defaulted on $7 million in mortgages since January 2006. One of them, Ron Frohlich, failed to make payments on three loans after buying two condos in the WaterCrest and another in Laguna at Riviera Dunes."

"Manatee County court documents show that Frohlich was a classic real estate investor. He spent $2.4 million to buy 12 properties in Manatee County during the past 10 years and sold them for a $1.8 million profit."

"Court documents also show that the Frohlich began defaulting on three condo loans this year. But when bank representatives went to serve him and his wife with foreclosure suits, they found the couple had disappeared."

"'Their current residence is unknown. There is no phone listing for the subjects. No employment information could be found,' wrote Hugh Heath of Tampa-based Accu-Search in his April 20 report."

"Manatee Fruit Co. increased the prices of its condo units at its Terra Ceia Bay development and still managed to sell six units in seven weeks this spring. Chris Teeters, a real estate investor from Jupiter, said he bought one of those units because the price was right and he believes in the project."

"'I paid $265 per square foot, and I don't think that price can be duplicated again,' Teeters said."

"Though he considers his Terra Ceia purchase a great deal, Teeters said he is not optimistic about Florida's condo market in general. 'Back in the early '80s, the condo market went through a similar transition and it took 10 years to work through. I think it will take 10 years this time, too.'"