How South Florida’s housing boom went bust

It doesn’t seem that long ago that real estate in South Florida was a booming business that everyone wanted to get in on. New condo developments and flipping property was all the rage. Then, Hurricane Wilma landed in 2005, causing property insurance prices to skyrocket, followed shortly by the beginning of the subprime mortgage crisis. Now, home prices continue to fall dramatically — 19 percent from 2007 to 2008 — due to lack of demand and a flooded condo market. People who had come to depend on the real estate market are finding themselves in a bind.