Florida: The CEO of the local Realtors group told sales agents the residential market could get 'scary.'

"Could get"? Try, "is getting". And I love the "There is no housing bubble in Orlando!" quote. Oh, man, that's so damn funny!

Remember, too, that for the realtor newbies, who got their license post-peak, they'll be back to bartending in a matter of weeks as there's no business out there, and they won't be able to afford their own homes (or eat)... hattip to boomer bubblesitter for the link

The top executive of the Orlando area's Realtor association is warning members that they may be in for a shock and some pain if the residential real estate market continues to soften.

"For some of you, it will be a scary thing," Jennings said to several hundred members during an association luncheon this week at the Renaissance Resort at SeaWorld.

During the past year alone, the local association's membership swelled 26 percent to 11,897 people. So any softness in the market will be magnified.

If it continues, he said, some real estate offices will close. "Marginal agents will retire faster," he predicted, and consolidation within the industry will continue. "The big get bigger," he said, and boutique shops will do fine but midsize offices will be squeezed out.

"There is no [housing] bubble in Orlando," he said. "We still have demand for housing, and jobs are being created."