Miami Today reports from Florida. "Recent reports show South Florida is second in the nation in foreclosures, with Brickell condos racking up the highest numbers locally. With 54 foreclosures, The Club at Brickell Bay, 1200 Brickell Bay Drive, leads to pack. The Vue at Brickell, a conversion project follows with 49 foreclosure actions. In third place is The Jade at Brickell Bay."

"In all, Condo Vultures reported 8,533 Miami-Dade properties worth $2.37 billion in some phase of foreclosure over the year to date."

The Daily Businesse Review. "Talk of short sales in real estate circles is soaring along with loan defaults and foreclosures in South Florida and nationwide. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac encourage working out loans in default for people in trouble with their primary residences, said Timothy Allen, president of the Mortgage Bankers Association of Florida."

"But real estate agents who need deals to make a living aren’t likely to be pushing that option."

"'That’s not the advice the Realtors are giving because they are selling a house and the lender is the screwdriver and the Realtor is the hammer,' Allen said. 'If the only tool I have in my toolbox is a hammer, every problem will be a nail.'"

The Naples News. "Collier County continues to see a decline in prices and sales. A report by the Naples Area Board of Realtors shows the median home price in the third quarter fell to $375,000, down $15,000 from the previous quarter."

"There were 786 closed sales, down from 1,326 in the second quarter and 961 a year ago. In Lee County, 327 existing single-family homes sold in September, down 53 percent from 693 a year ago, according to the Florida Association of Realtors. The median home price fell 11 percent to $231,600."

"There is more than a three-year supply of homes on the market in both Naples and Fort Myers."

The News Press. "Housing permits remained at low levels in October, with Cape Coral recording 15 for single-family homes. That's the lowest in memory, about half of September's 29 and less than 8 percent of October 2006's 203, according to a report."

"The pace was a little better in unincorporated Lee County, where 91 single-family permits were issued, the county reported."

"'The market got so wild and hot that even the government couldn't have corrected what happened,' said Bob Knight, president-elect of the Lee Building Industry Association. 'We just happen to have climbed a higher altitude than other areas of the country.'"

"The number of foreclosures filed in Lee County spiked to an all-time record of 1,538 in October — led by a big increase in primary homes."

"In Lee County, of the 1,108 single-family homes that went into foreclosure in October, 472 were homesteaded residences where a family lives a majority of the time. That's up from 395 homesteads in September."

"'The homesteads are starting to creep up too; that's the unemployment,' said mortgage broker Jeff Tumbarello of Network Funding Solutions. 'That's bad, that's not something we want to happen. It's one thing for that to happen to the speculators, that's kind of a cleansing, but the people who live and work in Lee County, we need to keep them here.'"

"Cape Coral also led the county in foreclosures with 679, followed by Lehigh Acres with 427 and Fort Myers at 308. Overall, the number was up 26 percent from September's 1,220 and up 337 percent from 352 in October 2006."

"As foreclosures have mounted, prices have plunged but that's not enough to bring back the market, Tumbarello said. 'You can buy houses for well under 100 grand in decent areas, but taxes and insurance are still more than $400 a month' and that's keeping buyers away."

"He noted that for a $90,000 house, about $450 of the $1,050 total monthly payment would go for real estate tax and home insurance."

"Real estate broker Steve Koffman in Cape Coral said that as prices have fallen from their peak in December 2005, a lot of people now are trying to sell their houses for so-called 'short sales.'"

"The median price of a single-family home in Lee County has fallen to $231,600 in September, the latest month available, down 28 percent from an all-time high of $322,300 in December 2005, according to the Florida Association of Realtors."

The News Journal. "The Volusia-Flagler economy got a double dose of bad news this week from two reports released Thursday."

"RealtyTrac reported court filings related to foreclosures were at 2,636 in the third quarter in the two-county area, up about 288 percent from 680 in the third quarter of 2006. Taxable retail sales took a tumble in July, down about 4.5 percent from July 2006."

The Orlando Sentinel. "Home builders continued cutting back in the Orlando area this summer, as new-home starts plunged 47 percent in the third quarter compared with the same period a year ago."

"Anthony Crocco, director of MetroStudy's Central and Northeast Florida divisions, said the sharp decline in Metro Orlando is a reflection of 'the slow sales paces and high cancellation rates of late summer and early fall.'"

"His survey of subdivisions showed that the number of homes sold and occupied in the third quarter totaled 3,850, down 29.8 percent from the same period in 2006."

"Total inventory, homes under construction, finished-but-vacant units and model homes, totaled 10,412 at the end of the quarter. But at the recent slow sales pace, that still amounted to a 6.6-month supply. And the critical finished-but-vacant category fell just 9.9 percent from a year ago, to 5,264 homes."

The Ledger. "Polk County's economic forecast for the coming year isn't great, but it could be worse. That was the message from a local economist and a national analyst."

"September sales of existing homes in Polk are down 44 percent from a year ago; building permits for new home construction are down about 36 percent and the county's unemployment rate is on the rise."

"'Can it get worse?' asked Gordon Kettle. 'In all the years I've been tracking data, I've never seen it worse.'"

"There are about 4,750 existing homes for sale in Polk's real estate market. New home construction, declining home values and high asking prices are all slowing the market. At the current rate, Kettle said it would take nearly two years to turn the entire inventory."

From TC Palm. "The number of new homes being built in St. Lucie and Martin counties dropped to among the lowest levels in a decade during the third quarter of 2007, while the construction of new homes fell in Indian River County, a quarterly housing report showed."

"There were 463 new single-family homes occupied during the third quarter in St. Lucie. Finished vacant inventory totaled 1,283 units at the end of the third quarter of 2007, down from the record level of 1,369 in the second quarter of 2007."

"Martin County's supply of vacant developed lots was 1,905 at the end of the third quarter, a 66.6-month supply at the current annual starts pace — the lowest in more than a decade — the report stated."

"The inventory of finished vacant homes fell to 905 units, from 1,012 at the end of the second quarter, bringing the months-of-supply figure down to 7.8 months from the record 8.3 months at the end of the second quarter."

"There are 5,083 vacant developed lots in Indian River County, a 74.2-month supply at the current annual starts pace."

The Tampa Tribune. "Slow job growth, coupled with the effects of a troubled real estate market, is pushing down demand for new homes in the Tampa Bay area, according to a report."

"Builders started work on 1,732 single-family homes during the third quarter of 2007, down nearly 57 percent from 3,993 in the same quarter last year, according to Metrostudy."

"Single-family closings during the third quarter of 2007 totaled 2,754 units, 35.8 percent lower than last year's third-quarter rate of 4,287 units. Metrostudy counts a closing as a home that is now occupied."

"Single-family inventory, which includes units under construction, finished vacant units and model homes, was 8,242 at the end of the third quarter. That represents a 6.8-month supply of homes and means it would take that long to sell them all at the current selling pace."

"Joseph Narkiewicz, executive vice president of the Tampa Bay Builders Association, said the increased finished inventory is made up mostly of homes bought by speculators, not homes that builders have been unable to sell."

"'There's still demand for new homes,' Narkiewicz said."