WESH reports from Florida. "Orlando is becoming one of the most difficult cities in America to sell a home for fair-market value, WESH 2 News reported. A new study shows Orlando-area homeowners more than a 50 percent chance of lower home values by mid-2009."

"Tawn Kelley helps people get loans to buy Morrison homes. She said that like every builder trying to sell their developments, the shrinking values in the housing market as well as the glut of homes for sale has forced them to play by new rules."

"'A customer would come in and talk about...purchasing something that was going to built specifically for them eight, nine or 10 months from now,' Kelley said. 'It is now inventory that is selling.'"

"Even with houses for sale all around him, James Phillips said he will only let serious buyers inside his front door because he's in no hurry to sell. 'I'm not really desperate to sell,' Phillips said. 'I know the value of my house, so I just have to wait it out.'"

The Ledger. "Polk County builders pulled 321 home permits last month, a 44 percent decline from the June 2006 total of 571. It is a story home builders are getting used to, an overabundance of new home inventory has the market at a near standstill."

"'We still have a lot of entry-level houses on the market,' said Bill Cook, president of Cook Construction in Winter Haven. 'Until those get cleared off, it's going to be slow.'"

"Many Polk cities had their totals take a plunge in June. Auburndale, Bartow, Haines City, Lake Alfred and Winter Haven continue to be affected by Central Florida's sluggish housing market."

From Bay News 9. "The number of foreclosed homes in Pasco County has jumped in the last year. 'Unfortunately, a lot of people have adjustable rates and can't afford the insurance,' said Pasco County community development director George Romagnoli."

"Rosalyn Fenton from the Pasco County Clerk's Office said last year about 10 foreclosures were processed per week, but now it's about 40 per week. The number of actual cases where they did lose their property has jumped almost 200 percent."

The Palm Beach Post. "Now that Palm Beach County's boom-time home-sales market is settling down...guess what? It's become a renters' market, according to a report released Wednesday. While that's good for renters, it isn't welcome news to landlords or home sellers."

"Home sellers competing for buyers in the county's volatile market now have a glut of rental apartments to worry about, according to RealFacts."

"The occupancy rate for (June) was 90.7 percent, down nearly 3 percent from a year ago. 'I would anticipate that as long as occupancy stays in the lower 90s, there won't be much rent growth - and maybe you'll even see decreases,' said Chris Bates, sales and marketing director for RealFacts."

"'In the MLS, the average days on market (to find a renter) is between 90 and 105 days,' said Todd Breen, broker-president of an affiliate of Re/Max. 'When you have days on market that are three months or longer, that's extraordinary,' he said."

"Rental communities, like sellers of new homes, are offering 'so many concessions I can't remember them all,' Breen said."

"'One trend is emerging that I find very refreshing,' he said. 'After years of the mortgage market taking tenants away from our inventory by turning them into buyers, we're now seeing prime tenants - good incomes and credentials - returning to the rental market vs. buying a house in a declining market.'"

From Business Week. "In Palm Beach...rents declined 0.5% in the second quarter. 'In Florida, so many apartment buildings were converted to condos over the course of the housing boom that there's now a large shadow inventory, or shadow market [of condos being rented out],' says Sam Chandon, chief economist at Reis."

"How long will renting remain a more appealing option than buying? 'When negative news comes out, from a consumer's point of view they just see 'housing is bad,' says NAR senior economist Lawrence Yun. 'But that just doesn't make sense in all markets. Eventually, renters will say, 'I'm tired of putting my rental payment into some landlord's pocket—I want to build equity.'"

The News Press. "Occupancy rates in Fort Myers' big apartment complexes plunged 10.9 percent in the second quarter while rents edged up, according to a report."

"Jim Garinger, a real estate agent who follows the multifamily market, said occupancy rates in the big complexes dropped because of competition from other sources, including the conversion of apartments to condominiums."

"'The amount of condo conversions that's happened in the last two years has had a big impact,' he said. 'Those units were pulled off initially as condominiums but now we see them coming back on and being rented.'"

"'That in combination with the regular condo products that were sold pre-construction and they were either sold to someone who's renting them out or the developer decided to rent them,' Garinger said."

"'Apartment complexes also are competing with single-family homes that were built by speculators who weren't able to sell at a profit, Garinger said. 'You can rent a single-family, three-bedroom home in south Lee County for $1,800 a month.'"

The Herald Tribune. "Although real estate auctions have become a more familiar phenomenon in Southwest Florida and the state as a whole with the cooling housing market, the region's top brokerage, Michael Saunders & Co., fired off a sharp broadside against the practice in a recent advertising section."

"Recently, real estate broker Sky Sotheby's International and J.P. King Auction Co. sold more than $30 million of property, virtually in one afternoon, in front of a standing-room-only crowd at the Ritz-Carlton Sarasota."

"But the Saunders ad poo-pooed 'the well-publicized tent auction, held amid a party atmosphere and attended by fewer buyers than curious onlookers. We daresay that sellers who participated were in no mood to party at the end of the day.'"

"I attended that auction and did not see any sellers with twisted arms or guns to their heads. If a seller chooses to accept an immediate cash sale, it is a successful sale at the then-market price."