South Florida took some of the worst hits from the housing bust as you know. Construction is now up here, but not astronomically of course. Here in Palm Beach County people are moving to new homes in the western part of the county. However where I deliver mail (Delray Beach) used houses in the $150-325,000 range sell briskly in the section of town that is not too west but not near the beach (say about 4 miles) I am actually surprised that, in some subdivisions, if you wait more than a week or two to decide on a place you lose out. During the boom though it was sometimes a bidding war the same day. Delray is interesting in that it has come so far so fast. That is, if you consider a cute but somewhat generic gentrified downtown "progress".
Palm beach County is probably the most corrupt county in the state, especially when it comes to real estate. As a result of some of that corruption, Palm Beach County now has its first commercial timberland site on what was supposed to be land for a housing development. Many industry insiders say ithe pines will never be harvested because there is no mill nearby. The deal was a commissioner got paid under the table to change the zoning of the land to residential from agricultural. And he got caught, for that and many other similar deals.
If you are interested in pioneer books or history of that sort one of the best ones is about Florida. It's A Land Remembered by Patrick Smith
patricksmithonline.com.
There is also a seemingly endless list of books about how Miamii (especially) was financed by moonshine and bad real estate deals...and of course cocaine.
Sorry for the rant, but I have such a love/hate relationship with this place. I love the nature , and the Everglades, but it is often heartbreaking to live in a place that has been so completely ruined and exploited just because people get tired of shoveling snow.