FT.com / World - Florida at centre of US housing bust

FT.com / World - Florida at centre of US housing bust: "Claude, one of many so-called Canadian “snowbirds” who winter in Florida, said he had a good credit rating but opted for a subprime loan because the low initial rate made a short-term investment more profitable. He says he is now “trapped” with an unaffordable mortgage and a depreciating beachfront property. With homeowners such as Claude dotted throughout the country and the outlook for the US housing market darkening, spooked bond investors have been fleeing the $8,500bn mortgage-market and shunning assets vulnerable to knock-on effects. But Joe Hembree, president of the Sarasota Realtors Association, says the local market will recover as flippers cut their losses. “There are great bargains to be had throughout the community as asking prices have dropped,” he says. Already, speculative investors are returning to the market and can be found scouting foreclosed properties, confident a new generation of sun-seekers will be lured by the promise of paradise."