Bubbles, like bull markets, end ugly. For proof, look no further than the battalions of homeowners and real estate investors being marched off into foreclosure in Florida.

Florida's foreclosure rate in February trailed only small states Nevada and Colorado nationally, with one foreclosure filing for every 382 households, according to RealtyTrac, an Irvine, Calif., foreclosure market firm. In total filings, Florida, with 19,144, led the nation. That number nearly doubled February 2006's count and was up 63.5% from January, RealtyTrac says.

But the depth of real estate sorrow, as shown by the accompanying charts, depends on the area and how much speculation and price run-up it saw since 2000.

The glut of unsold properties doesn't provide optimism that those chart numbers represent a peak. In the fall of 2006, Jack Connor of IRR Residential Appraisal Associates in Longwood appraised about one home a month that had a troubled loan. In March, he was appraising three a week.

Within individual markets, the anecdotal evidence is that the best locations -- the Winter Parks -- have some of the greatest unsold inventory problems. Investors and buyers, following the old saw about location, bid up prices highest in the best places.

Meanwhile, those who scraped into homeownership through subprime financing are falling out already. Coming next are those who went in with adjustable-rate loans expecting to refinance their way out of an interest-rate bump. They lack the equity to do it painlessly.

Recent new-home purchasers who are now selling face trouble. They're competing against builders desperate to unload unsold inventory. Also in jeopardy: Those who used home equity loans to turn their homes into piggy banks. Connor recalls one home he appraised that had had six refis in 18 months. The homeowners were well-equipped with a new pool, home electronics and new SUVs, but they were out of equity.

"We've got some real adjustments ahead of us," says real estate consultant, analyst and Florida Trend contributor Lewis Goodkin. That's especially true in the condo market. Buildings now under construction throughout the state will finish this year and next and then developers and their lenders will see how many contracts turn into actual sales. Says Goodkin: "The condo market is a genuine disaster."

NEXT PAGE: "Month-By-Month," and "Year-By-Year" Change in Foreclosure -- Charts

4 Year-Over-Year Change in Foreclosures
County	2005	2006	% Change
Alachua	962	742	-23%
Broward	13,514	21,144	56
Collier	1,277	911	-29
Duval	9,383	7,796	-17
Escambia	1,587	1,352	-15
Hillsborough	8,792	8,427	-4
Miami-Dade	21,434	24,214	13
Orange	6,908	7,482	8
Palm Beach	8,454	10,915	29
Pinellas	6,924	5,813	-16
Sarasota	1,953	1,713	-12
Seminole	2,221	2,073	-7
Florida	121,843	124,721	2%
U.S.	885,468	1,259,118	42%
Source: RealtyTrac

4 Month-By-Month Foreclosures
COUNTY	JAN/06	FEB	MAR	APR	MAY	JUN	JUL	AUG	SEP	OCT	NOV	DEC	JAN/07	FEB
Alachua	110	124	98	58	28	5	68	9	88	64	69	21	107	97
Broward	1,163	1,212	1,266	973	1,652	1,895	1,628	4,263	2,540	1,606	2,127	819	2,211	2,061
Collier	84	66	65	61	61	39	83	67	117	78	110	80	264	84
Duval	1,205	545	1,000	984	772	262	1,009	85	880	506	385	163	630	1,415
Escambia	136	162	102	104	57	110	125	115	126	112	100	103	142	286
Hillsborough	540	1,052	675	726	651	393	1,050	602	675	1,047	308	708	727	1,271
Miami-Dade	1,643	1,408	1,434	1,508	1,083	2,166	1,883	4,355	3,142	2,122	1,637	1,833	1,791	3,035
Orange	661	876	623	706	608	562	475	681	537	1,015	330	408	423	823
Palm Beach	1,173	765	738	733	989	920	529	2,241	873	866	494	594	680	1,317
Pinellas	396	465	470	304	379	309	654	758	490	593	290	705	404	1,414
Sarasota	205	134	133	124	123	53	147	190	119	139	214	132	280	449
Seminole	197	201	125	138	180	130	177	194	279	138	194	120	263	273
Florida	10,334	10,019	9,283	8,350	8,898	8,605	10,757	16,433	12,946	11,413	9,362	8,321	11,709	19,144
Source:RealtyTrac