The St Petersburg Times reports from Florida. "Liz Seither deftly juggles the two phones that never stop ringing in her kitchen. The Clearwater Realtor's eyes are puffy below unkempt flaming orange hair. Seither invested in expensive Clearwater waterfront property at the peak of the recent boom. Lenders are after her for millions of dollars in debts."

"After juggling 15 calls from debtors, creditors and clients, Seither lays the phones aside and delivers a pep talk to herself. 'I'm not a real estate bum,' the president of Executive Preferred Properties announces. 'I wear diamonds, Rolexes and necklaces. I'm a classy Realtor.'"

"Clearwater Realtor Anthony Marottoli entered the real estate roulette game a bit late. Despite asking almost $700,000 less than his neighbor, Marottoli hasn't found a buyer for his Mandalay condo. Doubling down, he's on the hook for another pricey condo at the adjacent Sandpearl Resort for $1.38-million."

"His real estate business is down to a dribble of employees, from a peak of 20. 'I've been waiting a year and a half, waiting for something to happen. And it's not happening,' Marottoli says."

"These days the waterfront runs red. Properties linger three times as long on the market as they did two years ago. Brokers like Seither and Marottoli have taken it doubly hard: They didn't just represent buyers and sellers, they dabbled in the investment arena themselves."

"The housing slump has left the market oversupplied with million-dollar homes relative to demand. Listings on Clearwater area beaches approach 1,000. Sales in July numbered 30. As new condo towers open, the glut grows."

"Says Virgil Sweet, a 24-year Realtor in Belleair Bluffs: 'People don't know you have too many until you have too many.'"

The Tampa Tribune from Florida. "Two years ago, when SkyPoint condominium was just a pile of dirt and a sophisticated plastic concept model, Ann Blank stood in line for hours to buy a one-bedroom unit for $241,000."

"Blank made the decision based on what city planners and developers said downtown would become. By the time SkyPoint was finished, the city was supposed to be filling up with entertainment and services that haven't materialized. Blank thought it would make a fine rental apartment for a few years, then she'd sell for a profit."

"'It was going to be great,' said Blank, who is a real estate agent."

"SkyPoint's developers forged ahead and already plan two more developments, one of which is under construction. But the market tanked, and now Blank, who is asking $1,500 a month in rent for her approximately 800-square-foot condo, can't find any takers. She blames the lack of services downtown."

"Part of the reason for Blank's trouble may be that many buyers had the same idea. There are 286 condominiums in 15 buildings in downtown Tampa listed for sale on the MLS. An additional 127 downtown condos are advertised for rent on craigslist."

"Of three projects that are substantially complete, plus Trump Tower Tampa, which hasn't broken ground, 180 of 1,046 units, or 17 percent, are listed for sale or rent."

"Some buyers are bailing because they no longer can afford their investments. Blank said another agent in her office represented a buyer who walked away from two downtown condominiums he had contracts to purchase. He lost about $100,000 in down payments rather than risk foreclosure or bankruptcy, she said."

"'People are losing big money,' she said. 'It's almost like a crash.'"

From WALB.com in Georgia. "As the housing market slumps, foreclosures are way up. Georgia has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the nation and some real estate agents are having a hard time getting people into homes."

"For the past 18 years, people looking for a new home simply called real estate agent Edgar McConnell for help. Nowadays, things are different. 'I have not had a good year,' said McConnell."

"It's been a slow change. Calls have been reduced and fewer homes have been sold. 'We have a lot of houses on the market,' said McConnell."

"On one street in Albany, we found three For Sale signs within a few feet of the other. They've all been up for a while. 'It's been slow. You don't get calls. It just seems like there isn't any interest in houses like it used to be,' said McConnell."

From the Sun News in South Carolina. "Construction has slowed way down on the Grand Strand since last year, and slowed slightly since last quarter."

'"The building permit data certainly show that builders around the Grand Strand remain cautious - and with what seems to be a growing sense of uncertainty nationwide about the housing market - this caution is probably well-placed,' said Don Schunk, research economist at Coastal Carolina University."

"Permits in Horry County dropped to 167 for condos from 724 in the second quarter, according to a real estate research firm. Single family home permits are down to 891 from 1,533 and townhomes are down to 162 from 341."

"Lot prices are dropping, a sign that the market is correcting itself and finding the bottom, analysts say. The median price of single-family lots in Horry County dropped 25 percent over last year's second quarter. Lot prices went to $52,000 from $69,000 last year."

"'Lot [price] reduction is a good sign,' said real estate analyst Carl Van Horn. The fact that land prices are now being affected means that the market is at least closer to the bottom, he said."

"Craig Dierksheide, who sells land for Coldwell Banker Chicora, said he's seeing price drops on land now, a reaction that took a while to happen after home prices dropped. 'A lot of people I know wish they would have sold at the peak. A lot of people wish they hadn't bought at the peak. That's just the cycle,' he said."

"Large builders have dropped out of many of their major projects and put them on hold, Dierksheide said. 'That's created a lot of inventory for land,' he said."