Catch the real estate rebound

Southwest Florida's real estate market is either red hot or down in the dumps.

Market-tracker Trulia recently published an analysis that showed the Cape Coral-Fort Myers area had the second-biggest increase in asking prices for homes anywhere in the country, up 15.4% in January compared with the same month one year ago. That was second only to Atlanta's 16.2% jump.

But as booming as the residential real estate market is today, readers may recall the bust was equally sharp in the other direction. The Cape Coral-Fort Myers area suffered one of the steepest declines in home prices anywhere in the country during the most recent recession, down 56% from peak to trough, Trulia says.

Can Florida escape the boom-and-bust cycles? Cynical observers might caution buyers today to wait for the next real estate bust. There's money to be made either way.