Housing woes drive Florida’s decline

The state’s real estate crisis leads an unwelcome list of firsts – mortgage fraud, foreclosures – that lead to an unfavorable assessment of its fortunes by Time magazine. The Miami condo market already has a five-year inventory and yet 22,000 units are still being built. Exurbs like Homestead, Port St. Lucie and Kissimmee, which were magnets for subprime borrowers, are now full of homes in foreclosure, and unmowed lawns and stagnant swimming pools are a common sight. That’s only part of the state’s troubles.