naples/ florida.com

i think this picture describes the feeling of the "flippers" that are now in big big trouble...... click on the headline to read the full stoy from the wsj.

denk das diese bild ziemlich genau die lage der "flipper/spekulanten" trifft. die lage ist ziemlich trübe. bitte auf die überschrift klicken um die volle geschichte des wsj zu lesen.

In 2005, this once-sleepy retirement haven on Florida's west coast was arguably the hottest housing market in the country.

Builders held lotteries to determine who could purchase homes in new gated communities. In the older neighborhoods, buyers were snapping up modest ranch houses and cottages soon after they were listed for sale. ......

The median home price more than doubled between 2000 and 2005, to about $482,400. ...


The frenzied run-up prompted economists at banking concern National City Corp. and the economic consulting firm Global Insight Inc. to label Naples "the most overvalued" housing market in the U.S. in the second quarter of 2005, a dubious honor it retains. .....

Today, prices are dropping, the number of unsold homes on the market has swelled to more than twice the national average and investors are scrambling to unload their properties......


At the peak of the Naples market in 2004 and 2005, as many as 50% of buyers may have been investors, local real-estate agents say. ......