It's a familiar story in South Florida. In Miami-Dade County, median existing home prices have plummeted nearly 40% since last year, according to figures released last week by the Florida Association of Realtors. It's been even rougher in the condo market, where prices have slid 50%. Eber saw a penthouse she'd originally listed at $25 million sell for $9.9 million in May.

"I think everybody was rudely awakened this past year," Eber says.

Once as glittery as Shaq's trophy case, the luxury housing market more closely resembles his moribund hip-hop career. Homebuilders
D.R. Horton, Lennar, Toll Brothers, Centex and Pulte Homeshave seen their shares drop by as much as 44% since September, when the financial crisis relegated buyers to the sidelines.

Sellers are just as jittery. Many people have their properties on the market out of necessity, Eber says.

Buyers like the one who bought Shaq's place (reportedly the Russian real estate magnate and Naomi Campbell paramour Vladislav Doronin) are helping drive sales as once extravagant properties become merely pricey. They're also helping the four-time NBA champion and 15-time All-Star pull off one of his most amazing feats yet: turning a celebrity compound into a bargain-basement fixer.

"A lot of people feel that opportunities are out there right now," Eber says. "The property is amazing and the person who bought it is going to completely redo everything."

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