The Orlando Sentinel reports from Florida. "A record 26,313 homes and condos were listed for sale last month just in the core Orlando market, up another 295 listings from the month before, according to records kept by the Orlando Regional Realtor Association. And thousands more are on the market as for-sale-by-owner properties. Only 1,343 homes and condos sold during August in the core market, a decrease of 40.3 percent from a year ago"

"For homeowners such as Benjaimal Sukhram, the softness of the once-hot Central Florida market continues to astonish and dismay."

"'I'm waiting and waiting, and it's frustrating,' he said. Sukhram's home-for-sale listing recently expired after six months. Not one person came to see his Lake County house during that 180 days, much less make an offer to buy it."

"Although the local median price is still roughly double what it was in 2001, the pace of existing-home sales so far this year has slipped back to levels last seen seven years ago, and the current slowdown is beginning to more closely resemble the historic boom in its potential to be a historic bust."

"Sukhram brought his wife and children to the Orlando area two years ago and bought a home in south Lake County for $212,000. A little more than six months ago, Sukhram listed his home with a real-estate agency for $348,000. He held firm to that price for the first six months, even though his agent brought no one around to look at the house."

"'He said he didn't get any calls,' Sukhram said. So he agreed to cut his asking price to $340,000 when he signed with said Robert G. McAdams, a real-estate agent in Clermont, though he said Monday that he's not willing to negotiate further cuts."

"Sukhram said homes in the Orlando area already are priced too low compared with areas of the country such as New York, where a relative of his recently sold a house for more than $500,000. That tells him, he said, that he should hold firm."

"He said he has not made any improvements to the property to raise its value during the two years he has lived there, but he needs the $128,000 profit, minus his agent's commission, to be able to afford the kind of home and large yard that he really wants."

"'I would not sell it for less than $340,000. That's a fair price for me,' Sukhram said."

The Times Online on Florida. "Until the housing slump hit two years ago, the worst thing that Floridians feared was the hurricane season. Now, they are in the middle of a different type of storm. In some areas of Florida, real estate prices have fallen by as much as 40 per cent since the height of the property boom in 2005."

"Kay Patel moved to Celebration, the Disney town in Florida, two years ago and set up a laundry business. With soaring insurance costs and property taxes, as well as the slide in real estate prices, Ms Patel told The Times that she was going to have to put her house on the market soon."

"She is planning to advertise her four-bedroom, three-bathroom home with a pool at about $535,000, but is concerned that should she fail to get less than $485,000 for it, she will be in the territory of negative equity. 'We hear that Florida is heading for a two-year recession, and there is no way I can sit that out,' Ms Patel said."

"Craig Studnicky, a property broker, said: 'We are having to cope with five or six years of oversupply. Right now, the market is a Mexican stand-off. There are buyers out there, but no one wants to drop their prices. The market is at a complete standstill.'"

"He said that in some of the more depressed areas of southern Florida, property was selling in 2005 for about $250 per square foot. That has fallen to between $150 and $200."

The Sun Sentinel from Florida. "The dramatic collapse of the nation's mortgage markets has hit home in South Florida, with almost 800 people losing their jobs in recent months as lenders slash operations."

"'The layoffs have impacted an industry that expanded like wildfire in recent years,' said Alex Garcia, VP of 1st Interstate Mortgage in Delray Beach."

"Sergio Grady is trying to refinance his Hollywood house. But his mortgage broker told him one application with a potential lender hit a snag because Grady is a telephone operator for a Fort Lauderdale hotel, not a higher-paying concierge."

"He said, 'Well, we're going to have to go somewhere else,' Grady said. 'The bank is asking for me to show more money.'"

"Peggy Richardson, HomeBanc's director of marketing in South Florida for two years, was one of those who lost her job. 'It was always considered a high-value, ethical company,' she said. 'But we were let go without getting paid for our accrued vacation time or any severance. We were left with nothing.'"

"Like other former colleagues, Peggy Richardson is trying to find work in a different line of business. 'Most everyone is looking outside, considering the state of the mortgage industry right now,' she said."

"Despite the credit crunch and the trouble it's causing, the mortgage industry ultimately will benefit from the shakeout, said Louis Spagnuolo, VP of mortgage banking for WCS Lending in Boca Raton."

"Spagnuolo said he's glad to see the demise of lenders who pushed risky loans on clients who couldn't afford them, which helped fuel the housing boom in the first place."

"'In the long-term, I really think this will be better for the consumer,' he said. 'We're going to have more professionalism. I think it's going to elevate the standards of the whole industry.'"

From Florida Today. "Compared with Florida's other metropolitan areas, Brevard County is a good bargain when it comes to renting an apartment, a new report shows. Both apartment rents and occupancy levels are down locally from a year ago, according to a study."

"Lisa Davidson, a Via Tuscany leasing agent, said she has seen a change in the complex's clientele in past year or so, with the downturn in the housing market. Before, Via Tuscany had more renters who were waiting for their homes to be built."

"Now, the complex doesn't see as many of them, and instead is seeing more tenants who are renting while trying to sell their homes, and even some whose homes may be in foreclosure, Davidson said."

"The pace of new housing construction of all kinds on the Space Coast is continuing at a relatively slow pace, according to the latest permit statistics from the Home Builders & Contractors Association of Brevard. 'Builders are really suffering,' said Franck Kaiser, the association's CEO. 'They've laid off as many people as they can, and some have gone out of business.'"

The Post & Courier from South Carolina. "Home sales in the three-county region declined 15 percent in August compared to the same month last year, extending the residential real estate slowdown that began to take hold about 18 months ago."

"After a long run-up, the local housing market peaked in early 2006, following national trends. Since then, residential investors have all but headed for the exits, while mortgage lenders have started tightening their credit standards for most borrowers."

"As of Monday, there were 10,893 homes offered for sale through the association's MLS."

"'There's an oversupply right now, and it's a buyer's market,' said Everett Presson, an agent with the region's biggest residential firm. Anyone considering a house purchase 'should be shopping around,' he suggested."

The Charlotte Observer from North Carolina. "Area real estate agents concede that...things have changed a bit. Even borrowers with good credit need to present more documentation proving they can make payments, real estate agents say, while good homes may sit on the market longer than expected, and sell at a bit of a lower price."

"'Now we’re starting to feel the brunt of it,' said Raine Spivey, broker/Realtor in Ballantyne. 'It’s going to really show you who’s serious about buying.'"

"And prospective homebuyers looking to move to the Ballantyne area from other cities in slow-selling markets, like Florida or the Northeast, are having a harder time selling their homes to get here, real estate agents say."

"Home sales in the Charlotte region were down last month, continuing a summertime slump of double-digit declines."

"Charlotte-area real estate agent Lisa Hines, in the business five years, said the housing market malaise has cut her income by about 40 percent. She said once-happy agents now talk about getting out of the business."

"'The mortgage companies are the problem,' she said of toughening lending standards. '(The type of) people who got loans last year can't get them this year.'"

"Local agents also blame soft markets elsewhere, saying some transplants can't buy here until they sell homes in other slumping markets, such as in Florida, California and the Midwest. So they rent and wait."