The Sun Sentinel reports from Florida. "For perhaps the first time in its history, Broward County lost population — 13,154 more people left than arrived during the past year, according to U.S. census estimates released today. In the past two years, 55,808 more residents left the county than moved in from other states. 'It's very clear that growth has slowed down substantially,' said Stan Smith, director of the Bureau of Economic and Business Research at the University of Florida. 'It's partly due to the economic slowdown and the slowdown in job creation and the housing problems Florida has been facing.'"

"Anneke Reinhardt, of Hollywood, is among those trying to flee. Her three-bedroom home with a pool in the Lakes area has been on the market since last year, and the divorced senior citizen is shopping for a home in Knoxville, Tenn."

"'It is getting too expensive for me to live here and I don't have a nest egg,' said Reinhardt, who has lived in Broward for 30 years and works at a lighting factory. 'I feel I'm crazy staying here when the cost of living is so much less somewhere else.'"

"'This a real alarm,' said William Frey, a demographer with a Washington public policy think tank. 'In a way Broward is a bellwether for the rest of the country, and if Broward is losing people, which in itself is so surprising, that shows how Florida, especially, is hard hit by this housing crunch.'"

"Nine other Florida counties lost population. Pinellas County near Tampa dropped by 5,456 and Monroe County lost 1,174. Others that dropped by a few hundred to 1,500 people were Bay, Charlotte, Escambia, Franklin, Glades, Jefferson and Okaloosa counties."

"Semore Borker says it's pretty obvious why population growth has stagnated. 'I have found that Florida and Palm Beach and Martin counties are no longer a retiree's paradise because of the expenses,' said Borker, who has his home west of Boynton Beach for sale and is hoping to move to South Carolina once he sells."

"Borker, a transplant from New Jersey, said his yearly expenses would be cut nearly in half when he makes the move. He would still live in a community with a pool, tennis courts and all of the amenities he enjoys here — for half the price."

"'I'm 80 years old, I have no pension and only a little bit of investments,' he said. 'I could downsize but that's not going to cut it for me.'"

"A total of 11,186 people left Palm Beach County from 2005 to 2007 for other places in the U.S., the report shows. If it weren't for births and foreign migration, the county's population growth would likely be in the negative."

The Boca Raton News. "'If you don’t have to sell your house, don’t,' a real estate expert told an audience of consumers and Realtors® in Boca Raton this past weekend."

"'We have a large overhang of inventory,' said John Tuccillo of John Tuccillo and Associates, 'and overbuilding of new homes.'"

"He also faulted Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae – programs designed to put people into homes. 'They went a little overboard – by pushing people [from smaller homes] into larger homes.'"

"Would-be homebuyers were wooed with zero down payment loans, interest-only loans and something he called an 'option ARM' where buyers could 'pay what they want. We’ll just tag the rest onto the principal.' 'Easy credit,' he said, 'got a lot of people in trouble.'"

"'What’s keeping South Florida in the real estate doldrums? Foreclosures, unsold new homes and the slow economy,' said Tuccillo."

"He even offered up the 'R' word, saying people feel they are in a recession. Tuccillo predicted it will be 'relatively mild and relatively short. The only way we could screw it up is to attempt to avoid it.'"

"Tuccillo isn’t keen on the $160 billion 'Economic Stimulus Package,' saying it will stall economic recovery and feed inflation. 'There are three things people will do with the checks: save them, pay debt or go out and buy things and increase the number of jobs – in China!'"

"He said he would rather see the United States invest the $160 billion 'in a program to repair and replace roads and tunnels. There would be more jobs.' Tuccillo criticized the proposal as something that was 'put together by a bunch of people who don’t have a clue.'"

"The hat trick that will pull South Florida from the dumper, he said, is 'population growth, falling home prices and a better economy.'"

"The first person to put a down payment on a house was Cindy Lee Dickson of Fort Myers. When she woke up Wednesday morning, she had no idea she was going to buy. Then she saw the prices at Coral Lakes: single-family homes at $133,000 and town houses at $86,000."

"'We had thought about it and said no,' Dickson said. 'But I think the price I saw today convinced me to buy. I think it's a wonderful investment.'"

The St Petersburg Times. "Nohl Crest Homes, the Tampa Bay area semicustom home builder founded in 1985, is close to going out of business. Sales are only a fifth of what they were two years ago, and the Oldsmar-based builder has laid off 90 percent of its employees."

"With banks pressing it to repay loans on some of its 100 building lots, the company likely won't survive the year, Nohl Crest co-founder and president Kenneth Emery said Wednesday."

"'Will we be here a year from today? I don't think so. That's not going to happen,' Emery said."

"'We can't sell homes for $500,000, $600,000 and $700,000,' Emery said. 'People just don't qualify for those sorts of homes anymore.'"

"Nohl Crest is the third locally active builder to declare bankruptcy or signal its anticipated closing. Levitt & Sons filed for Chapter 11 in November. Tousa filed in January. Nohl Crest isn't publicly traded like the others."

"'They are a private company, so they don't have the deep pockets like a national builder does,' Tampa Bay area housing consultant Marvin Rose said. 'When they lose money, it comes out of the owners' pockets.'"

The Bradenton Herald. "There is quality product out there selling for under $100 a square foot, said May Aston, sales associate with Re/Max Alliance Group and immediate past president of the Manatee Association of Realtors."

"'It was $200 a square foot at the height,' Aston said."

"'We're kind of having a half price sale,' said Patrick McGuire of Coldwell Banker in Lakewood Ranch. McGuire recently worked on a sale where a home that would have sold for $1.2 million during the height of the market sold for $600,000."

"'The upper-end homes have really fallen down,' McGuire said."

"'Some are getting good enough deals that they are fixing them up and putting them back on the market,' Aston said. Others are renting the properties or just holding onto them until market conditions improve."

"'They know the market is going to change again, we just don't know when,' Aston said."

"Due to the large number of short sales and foreclosures, Aston and other agents have turned a large portion of their business to focusing on such sales but have noticed an increase in more traditional sales as well."

"'People are buying now because even if it's not the bottom of the market they are realizing they might not be able to afford it if they wait,' McGuire said."