“Realtors have persuaded Wojciechowski to drop the price to $204,900. That’s more than $15,000 lower than the median home sale price in Brandon last quarter, and it’s as low as he wants to go.”

“‘Everything went downhill after I bought, so I got stuck,’ said Wojciechowski, of Chicago. ‘I’m not interested in taking a loss. The mortgage is killing me every month.’”

“Hillsborough County’s noticeable price declines last quarter occurred in neighborhoods where home builders were most active during the boom.”

“Today, areas like South Shore, Riverview, the Race Track Road corridor and New Tampa may have the largest surpluses of houses to unload. They also may have some of the largest numbers of investor-owners, because that’s where homes were available when the 2005 buying frenzy mobilized speculators.”

“‘Those are the areas that came down the most, because the prices were the most inflated,’ said Kristy Darragh, a New Tampa Realtor.”

“Anthony Teta tried lowering the price on his 1,400-square-foot Brandon home. He started at $229,000 and went to $189,000. ‘I was coming down to a break-even point,’ he said. But with nearby builders offering major incentives, Teta felt he could not compete.”

“A real estate Web site still lists his house as ‘priced to sell.’ Teta took the ‘For Sale’ sign down weeks ago. ‘I love the house. I love the neighborhood,’ he said. ‘I had to remind myself of that. I’m going to be happy to stay there for longer.’”

“Brad Monroe, a New Tampa Realtor, tells the 48 agents in his Coldwell Banker office that home prices should be dropping about 1 percent a month. But they catch resistance from sellers. ‘They don’t want to lose their paper gains,’ Monroe said.”

“Realtors say many clients cannot afford to lose those gains, because they obtained home-equity loans, borrowing against the soaring value of the house. ‘They paid for boats, and BMWs and trips and whatever,’ Tampa Realtor Ginger Perkins said.”

“Many sellers in Old Seminole Heights have too much invested to concede prices, says broker Mike Massimini. ‘People have bought the homes, spent several years fixing it up, financed, and now they’re in the situation where they have to sell it at almost full price.’”

The Miami Herald. “When Micheline Louis-Charles bought a house in North Miami 20 years ago, her salary was enough to pay her mortgage and raise five kids.”

“But since then, her monthly house payment, which includes mortgage, taxes and insurance, has doubled to $1,200 a month, and her income has not kept pace. She rents out a room in her three-bedroom house to help cover costs.”

“‘Everything goes toward the house. I survive in a very hard way,’ said Louis-Charles. When asked if she has thought of selling her house, she says, simply: ‘Where would I go?’”

The Sun Sentinel. “Home builder Hovnanian Enterprises is trotting out big bargains this weekend, in Palm Beach County and other areas nationwide, to cope with the worst housing slump in 16 years.”

“The builder is advertising a national ‘Deal of the Century’ sales event that involves thousands of homes, including some in Boynton Beach and Royal Palm Beach.”

“Buyers can expect price reductions and other incentives worth as much as $50,000 at each of the developments on Southern Boulevard, said Mark Hodges, president of Hovnanian’s South Florida division.”

“‘We’ve told our sales staff to be ready to sit down with everyone who walks in the door and find a way to get them into the home,’ Hodges said.”

“The largest discounts nationally are on the most expensive homes, including a three-bedroom condominium by the Hudson River in West New York, which has been reduced $240,000, or 22 percent, to $862,000 this weekend. A 25 percent discount is being offered on a two-bedroom home in Jackson Township, N.J., which lowers its price tag to $300,501.”

“Keith Gumbinger, VP of a consumer loan research firm found the sale remarkable, given low mortgage rates. ‘You wouldn’t think there is a need to go to the marketplace with such discounts,’ he said. ‘This is a pretty good indication from a prominent homebuilder that the market is troubled.’”

The Coloradoan. “One of the home builders linked to Norlarco Credit Union’s pile of delinquent loans is offering six-figure discounts on some of its properties this weekend as it attempts to draw interest in slumping markets.”

“Hovnanian Enterprises’ sales blitz involves dropping prices by more than 20 percent on some of its prime real estate, including in Florida, where Norlarco has issued numerous construction loans for Hovnanian property.”

“Borrowers have left Norlarco with $70 million in delinquent loans, many of them in Lee County, Fla. In Lehigh Acres alone, Hovnanian First Homes is offering almost 60 spec homes for between $143,000 and $200,000.”

“Swollen inventories are likely to lead to more discounting, said Sam Chandan, chief economist a real estate research firm.”

“‘We’ve certainly seen conditions in the housing market continue to deteriorate in the last several months,’ Chandan said. ‘The downward adjustment in prices, whether for new homes or existing homes, is going to be far more severe than what many people thought earlier this year.’”

“This weekend’s sales involves thousands of homes in 19 states.”

“‘We think it will effectively overcome the malaise that people have been carrying around since the subprime debacle occurred in late February,’ said Michael Skea, VP of marketing and sales for the Hovnanian’s northeast sector. ‘It’s just a matter of getting the buying public to realize this is a great time to buy.’”

The News Press. “Southwest Florida’s homes are still overpriced — but they’re a far better buy than they were a year ago, according to a national survey released this week.”

“Homes in Lee County, now the 95th most overpriced of 330 markets nationwide, were overvalued by 23.3 percent in the second quarter of 2007, compared to 38.8 percent a year earlier, according to the report by Global Insight/National City Corp.”

“In the same time period, prices in the area fell from a median single-family-home price of $298,700 to $230,000.”

“The Naples area was still overpriced by 49.5 percent at $376,000, making it the 17th most overvalued market in the country. But that’s still a big improvement from a year earlier, when it was ranked eighth: overpriced by 65.5 percent at $393,600.”

“Charlotte County, in 54th place, was over by 32.6 percent with a median home price of $193,900, improved from 56 percent over at $212,400.”

“Southwest Florida’s numbers are cause for optimism, said Jamie Pirrello, president of Fort Myers-based Vision Homes USA. ‘I actually felt, ‘Wow, maybe we’re finally approaching close to bottom,’ he said. ‘Clearly the amount we’re overvalued has definitely decreased.’”

“Prices are coming back to what people can actually afford to pay, he said. ‘One of the reasons that things get overvalued is that they get out of alignment with incomes,’ Pirrello said. ‘If you look back a couple years, incomes haven’t kept up with massive increases in price.’”

“As for the future, Pirrello said any recovery of the market in Lee County will depend on reducing the inventory of 23,551 houses and condos that are for sale through Realtors here. There’s room for optimism, he said, noting that the price of land and home construction costs have been falling lately.”

From Wink TV. “A well known real estate analyst came to Naples today in an attempt to bring some hope to the slow housing market.”

“Lawrence Yun, the Senior Economist for the National Association of Realtors…says real estate agents, as well as the public should not be disturbed by the lack of sales in Collier County. He believes things will pick up in the next year, and even more in the distant future.”

“Some real estate agents tell WINK News the market just keeps getting worse.”

“Yun says, if you buy now you’ll be better off later. ‘It looks like over the long term, twenty years from now it looks like Naples will be commanding very high price in the country,’ said Yun.”

“Yun also predicts renters beginning to buy once they realize the cost of rent is just about as much as a monthly mortgage payment.” - By Ben Jones of The Housing Bubble