Home prices in South Florida continued to eke out modest gains even as confidence in the economy stalled, according to two widely-watched reports released Tuesday, sending mixed messages to a jittery market during the run-up to the critical holiday-shopping season.

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home-price index for Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties climbed 1.1 percent from July to August -- its fourth consecutive gain. Nationally, the index was up 1.2 percent.

Two key economic markers in Florida -- consumer confidence and a much-watched home price index -- showed a second consecutive month of improvement, offering further evidence the recession is easing, though a long recovery likely awaits.

The S&P/Case-Shiller home price index showed South Florida home prices posted their second, though modest, monthly gain of 1.3 percent in July, as strong sales and shrinking inventory helped to firm up prices. The index, however, was still down from a year ago, by 21 percent.

Sept. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Five U.S. states that were among the hardest hit by job losses and the construction slump also had declines in household incomes during the first year of the recession, according to a government report.

Arizona, California, Florida, Indiana and Michigan all saw median household incomes drop in 2008, the Census Bureau said yesterday in an annual report. Only one state had a decline the previous year.

The most vivid sign of Florida's fight against recession came in August with the news that the state's ever-rising population declined in the 12 months ending April 1. Preliminary estimates show a drop of 58,000 in a state where growth has fueled the economic engine for more than 60 years.

The Tallahassee metropolitan statistical area, however, gained population during the same period. Wakulla County's increase of 3.5 percent to 31,791 was the most dramatic.

Lillian Vickers doesn’t have to think very long about why she left Florida.

“Three hurricanes in 15 months. It got to be too much,” said Vickers, who relocated to Dothan from Okeechobee, Fla., in October 2006.

How she and her husband — and the family dog — came here, of all places, had to do with proximity. Vickers has family in Tallahassee and a niece in Enterprise, and because her husband is retired military, they liked being close to Fort Rucker.

BROOKSVILLE - There has been a 41.5 percent decline in the average sales price of a single-family home in the past three years, according to new information from the property appraiser's office. That is a "sobering" statistic, said Nick Nikkinen, director of special projects for the property appraiser's office. Property Appraiser Alvin Mazourek said he has been property appraiser since 1997, and this is the first year he's seen any significant value drops in terms of home prices that affect tax assessments. "I've never seen the market like this," he said.

Amid the bad earnings, bankruptcies and other bleak financial news from Carolinas companies, executives are increasingly blaming some of the gloom on the Sunshine State.

From Fortune 500 corporations to family-owned businesses, many area companies invested in Florida in recent years to capture a piece of the state's population boom. Now that the housing market has collapsed, growth has stalled, tourism has ebbed and consumer spending is down, a chill has fallen on the state's once-sizzling economy.

EDGEWATER - Kirk Ferguson has been trying to sell his three-bedroom home for two years.

The former electrician has been looking for a larger home to accommodate his larger family, but can't buy anything until he can sell his current home, located within walking distance of the Intracoastal Waterway.

Even after Mr. Ferguson lowered the price of his home to below what the Volusia County Property Appraiser said it is worth, there haven't been any takers.

And it's no surprise.

MIAMI (AP) -- Sales of existing homes fell 16 percent in the South in February, as potential buyers remained cautious amid difficult economic conditions and waited for the stimulus package to take effect, the National Association of Realtors said Monday.

The median sales price of existing homes in the South slid 10 percent from last year to $146,700 as distressed property sales dominated, while most markets wrestled with high inventory and low-ball offers.

Let's take a look at some of the opportunities and positive indicators for the future of Florida's real estate market.