Little Tommy sat cross-legged on his front porch, carefully listening to his daddy reminisce with Uncle Bob about the good 'ole days'in the housing market.

The good 'ol days.

How long ago they seem. Within hours, maybe minutes, of hitting the market, or perhaps before hitting the market, sellers had multiple offers exceeding the list price.

The good 'ol days.

Local newspapers paraded the housing market around town with glowing headlines,

?Rising Prices Propel Sarasota (Florida) Market to 2nd Highest Appreciation in the Nation?

?Hottest financial game in town: your home' was on everybody's mind. In fact, everybody seemed to be investing in real estate'flipping, flipping & more flipping.

It was the heyday. Local Boards of Realtors recorded exploding membership'everybody and his brother, sister & dog held a real estate license.

Equal numbers grabbed a mortgage broker's license while they were at it'can't have one without the other.

Builders drew crowds of rabid investors comprised of grandmothers and toddlers just out of diapers, eager to win a crack at a drawing for a chance to overpay for new home construction.

In the good 'ol days, the builders threw up houses and the people did come...they showed up in droves. It was a housing market 'field of dreams.?

Grab one, maybe ten, new construction 'lottery tickets' with one of those 100% 'option ARM? loans & hit the jackpot.

Ah, the good 'ole days.

Back in the good 'ol days, the median sale price of existing single-family homes in the Sarasota-Bradenton (Florida) market rocketed 26.1 percent to $222,100 when compared with the same 2002 quarter.

In the final three months of 2003, The Sarasota-Bradenton (Florida) housing market sizzled its way into the record books:

Only Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif., which racked up a 28.9 percent gain for the same period, beat Sarasota's gain. Los Angeles followed with a 24.5 percent increase to $382,200, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Indeed, they were the best of (real estate investing) days.

Just a couple short years later'seems like an eternity doesn't it'the housing market is a graveyard of memories from the good 'ole days.

Night and day different.

Just a few years later, the sluggish housing market meanders along. The median home price in the Sarasota-Bradenton area market is down 9 percent from one year ago to $294,500. As a state, Florida is off 3 percent at $242,500; nationally, the median price fell 1.5 percent to $211,100.

Tommy hears his daddy mumble something about rising foreclosures.

?Is it the quiet before the storm? Whose children will be homeless tomorrow when people lose their homes??

Tommy watches his Uncle Bob just shake his head as his chin pushes against his chest.

As adjustable-rate 'option-arm' mortgages prepare to reset, causing some frightened homeowners' monthly mortgage payments to double, the Fed ponders a rate hike.

A rate hike, 'they' say, is necessary to head off inflation as gas prices explode once again. The death of the good 'ol days harkens Tommy's daddy and uncle back to just a few years ago. No time for nostalgia, however; there's some trouble a brewing, as the sky darkens amidst a growing foreclosure storm.

?The good 'ol days,? Tommy hears his daddy say, 'gave everybody a good feeling about tomorrow.?

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