It's that time again. We're recapping the year's top business stories, reminding you of the best and worst, the winners and losers, and the controversies and concerns that made headlines in 2006.

Our hottest issue, as usual, was real estate, and the "Is it a real estate bubble or isn't it?" question was settled this year with a definitive pop. Monthly home and condo sales were half last year's figures, and inventories piled up throughout Southwest Florida. Creative developers slashed prices and gave away free swimming pools and even a Lexus.

The good news was that Mother Nature gave us a break from the wearying succession of major hurricanes, although insurance companies, seeing windfall profits this year, did not see fit to give us a break from skyrocketing premiums or from abandoning us altogether. At the same time, local government socked it to second homeowners and investment and commercial property owners in the form of stratospheric increases in property taxes, leaving some to wonder whether it's worth doing business here.

As 2006 comes to a close, we're all feeling just a wee bit sheepish when we remember our euphoria over the boom times of 2004 and 2005. That's not always bad, however-realism and stability are better for the economy and our mental health in the long run.

REAL ESTATE BLUES

In case you don't remember what it was like just 18 months ago, Southwest Florida's intoxicating real estate market pervaded the dreams of developers, secretaries and retirees. Average Joes bought condos, flipped them and doubled their money overnight, creating a frenzy that drove prices up 30 percent a year for two years. Sarasota and Bradenton homeowners who watched on the sidelines felt wealthier, as housing gains were among the highest in the nation. People refinanced, pulling equity out of their homes to pay for remodeling, new cars and big-screen TVs, further fueling the economy.

Mortgage companies, contractors, real estate agencies and cabinetmakers ramped up staffs to meet the insatiable need for houses and condos. Even eight strong hurricanes in two years, causing billions in damage, didn't dampen enthusiasm for Southwest Florida real estate.

Oh, those were the good old days.

Then last spring signs of trouble emerged. The North Port-Charlotte market, among Florida's hottest, showed a 2 percent drop in the median price of a single-family home-the first such drop since the early 1990s.

Optimists predicted it was a "return to a rational market." But it only got worse. By mid-summer, sales of existing homes in Sarasota County were off 49 percent compared to last year and condo sales off a jaw-dropping 58 percent.

Sarasota County building permits declined 64 percent, and in Manatee, 39 percent. Even the developers' darling, North Port, saw construction come to a halt. Building permits dropped from about 350 to 65 a month.

Sellers took a while to adjust to the new real estate reality. But by late summer, the median price of a Sarasota home had declined 11 percent.

How long will the slump last? Not long, say most developers and housing experts. Southwest Florida is a desirable place to live. A year to 18 months from now, they predict, demand will rebound and so will the housing market.

DEVELOPERS AND BUILDERS FADE AWAY

Sarasota's Jade Homes was among the first to go under. President Andrew Coles shut his main office and six sales centers last summer, leaving 75 area homes in various states of construction. The St. Joe Company, Florida's largest private landowner, which is developing the mammoth Seven Shores, a 686-unit, 13-building luxury residential condominium development in Bradenton, announced it was getting out of the home building business. In the fall, Naples-based WCI, one of the largest developers in the state, announced it would not be buying the Hyatt Sarasota and building condos or another hotel on the site.

Other developers started delaying, canceling or modifying projects, including Wayne Ruben and David Band's Premiere at Main Plaza, which, at press time, was slated to become a hotel rather than condo towers. 1350 Main developer Chris Brown also canceled his mixed-use project, 1740 Main.

Not all developers are backing out, however: Isaac Group Holdings insists it's still developing the retail/condo project Pineapple Square in downtown Sarasota; Patrick Kelly is proceeding with the $1 billion Sarasota Bayside at the former Quay site; and Benderson Development is planning two huge mixed-use projects, in downtown Sarasota at the Bank of America site and at U.S. 41 and Midnight Pass Road. It also has submitted a proposal to develop the city-owned lot behind the Sarasota Opera House.