The Sun Sentinel reports from Florida. "Investor Harold Stark paid $365,000 for a three-bedroom Boynton Beach townhouse last year. But the monthly mortgage payments soon started to feel like a noose around his neck. His property's value dropped below what he still owed, $329,000. But rather than letting the townhouse fall into foreclosure, Stark worked out a deal in which he sold it for $285,000, and his lender forgave the difference."

"Stark recently took a part-time job to earn extra money. Although his finances have taken a hit, he's grateful to be out from under the strain of a hefty mortgage. 'At least now I have peace of mind,' Stark said. 'I really feel good. If I had a little money, I'd go out and celebrate.'"

"Fort Lauderdale real estate agent Colleen Kelly has a client who owns a two-bedroom condominium in Oakland Park. She paid $160,000 in 2005 and still owes about $158,000."

"Unable to keep up with the payments, Kelly's client wants to sell, but the condo has lost value. She's listing it for $142,000 but competing with dozens of other units in the same complex that also are for sale."

"'When we get an offer, we'll contact the bank and see if they'll accept it,' Kelly said. 'It's unfortunate that someone earning a decent living finds herself in this situation. It's not a fun thing.'"

The Daily News. "A sluggish real estate market paired with soaring property taxes and insurance premiums has driven foreclosure filings to an all-time high in Okaloosa, Santa Rosa and Walton counties, industry watchers say."

"'All three are combining to create the perfect storm,' said David Braithwaite, city president of Compass Bank in Fort Walton Beach. 'A lot of people are finding themselves in bad shape … developers, homeowners. It’s across the board.'"

"In Okaloosa County, foreclosures jumped by nearly 70 percent from 2005 to 2006. And if the foreclosure rate maintains its current pace, the total in 2007 will be 83 percent higher than 2006."

"'I knew it was up, but I didn’t realize we were running that far ahead at this time,' said Okaloosa County Clerk of Courts Don Howard. 'There were aggressive lending practices going on. I believe that some people got some very subprime loans.'"

"Howard estimated that 80 to 90 percent of the filings will go through the entire foreclosure process."

"In Santa Rosa County, foreclosures increased 72 percent from 2005 to 2006. This year’s January to August foreclosures have already surpassed 2006 totals by 36 filings. In Walton County, foreclosures increased 63.7 percent from 2005 to 2006. Thus far in 2007, foreclosures have surpassed 2006 totals by 66 filings."

"'A lot of it is people assuming that the values were going to keep on increasing,' said. 'And they didn’t want to be left out. They figured if they didn’t buy a house today, they wouldn’t be able to afford it later on.'"

The News Journal. "Since last October, Jerry Tordeur has been laying off employees for the first time in Halifax Plumbing's 21 years in business. He's just one of an untold number of contractors and subcontractors who have been squeezed as the new-home construction industry nose-dived in the Volusia-Flagler market over the past year and a half."

"'I would say I'm down 60 to 65 percent for the last 14 months,' said Tordeur, whose company focuses on new homes. 'You can't make it up. We're struggling to keep things going until things turn around.'"

"Gary Tessero, a co-owner of Southside Plumbing in DeLand, said his company's new-home work fell by about 90 percent. 'It actually started in the third quarter of 2006 and continued on,' Tessero said. 'We went from maybe 50 new-home starts a week to about five. Nobody is building homes. Every big builder has inventory they're trying to sell.'"

The St Petersburg Times. "As one of the epicenters of the housing boom, and the subsequent slump, the Tampa Bay area has suffered from a rash of loan officer layoffs for much of this year. First Magnus Financial Corp. officially ceased operations last week, taking an undisclosed number of local jobs with it."

"The Tampa branch of H&R Block Mortgage Corp. laid off 141 in June, and on Aug. 10 HomeBanc Mortgage Corp. slashed another 59 jobs."

"Capital One's closing of GreenPoint Mortgage Funding, with operations in Westshore, appeared to strike unexpectedly. As late as last week, GreenPoint was prospecting for a new supervisor at its Tampa office. GreenPoint, based in Novato, Calif., specializes in no-documentation and Alt-A mortgage loans for borrowers with slightly better credit than subprime borrowers."

"Employees at Countrywide's offices in the Tampa Bay area funneled calls to its California headquarters. The lender said the layoffs would occur in its Full Spectrum Lending division, which runs an office in Tampa's Westshore and serves borrowers with less-than-top-notch credit."

"Westshore marks Ground Zero for a hotel building boom. Forty-one area projects are in the works - under construction, on the drawing board or somewhere in between, according to Lodging Econometrics."

"Many won't clear financing or regulatory hurdles. About half of lodging projects that haven't reached construction never get built, says Duane Vinson, VP of Smith Travel Research."

"Tighter lending restrictions resulting from the subprime home mortgage crash could sink marginal projects. Some analysts question whether a glut of new hotel rooms will outpace demand."

"Weak demand for residential real estate has forced developers to reduce the number of condos from hotel projects or eliminate them altogether. Developer Dilip Kanji cut 20 condos from his Westin on Rocky Point when only a handful sold in six months of marketing."

"Daniel Peek, (a) hotel consultant, says condos will make it tougher to obtain financing for a new hotel. 'Projects where (condos) are a substantial component are raising a lot of questions,' he says."

The News Press. "Auctions are on the rise nationwide, according to a study. 'People are starting to understand and see that auctions are an effective way of selling properties,' said Troy Ayers, CEO of Premier Real Estate Auctions on Marco Island. 'We literally get hundreds of calls weekly from people wanting to sell their properties.'"

"The flooded housing market is sparking auctions in Southwest Florida. 'I think the thing that makes the auction process successful in bad times, it basically recreates what made us so successful in ’05,' Ayers said. 'The auction process assembles everyone together in one room and creates that excitement and creates this sense of urgency.'"

"Carla Bonten, a Bonita Springs real estate agent, got her auctioneer’s license in February. She held her first real estate auction on July 14 with 23 properties. No bids came in high enough to satisfy the sellers."

"'There was no competition,' Bonten said. About 25 people attended, but only five bid. It was over in 45 minutes."

"She said buyers can have fun and get good bargains while sellers can move their property. She said sometimes it’s better to take a loss or break even rather than potentially lose more on a property with mortgage, insurance, taxes and maintenance payments."

"'You have to be realistic. If you’re waiting for the price it was worth three years ago, it’s not going to happen,' Bonten said."

"Luxury Auction Group on Sanibel is holding fewer auctions in Southwest Florida than it did last year. 'Auctions work better in a strong real estate market than they do in a slow real estate market,' said broker/auctioneer Dan Mahaney. 'We’re turning down 20 auctions a week in Florida right now.'"

"He said sellers have to be willing to let the market decide the price, even if it means taking a loss. 'Most people that have bought their property in the last few years overpaid,' he said. 'They can’t rent it because there’s not enough renters for the number of people trying to rent.'"

"Mahaney has seen an uptick in auctions from a certain type of seller. 'We’re actually getting more calls from lenders now that are prepared to do mass liquidation of properties all over the area.'"