“If Florida is going to have a comeback anytime soon, investors are going to have to play a role,” said Rick Sharga, a senior vice president at RealtyTrac. “There are just too many properties for traditional home buyers to absorb.”

Of course, speculators have been picking through the rubble of America’s real estate collapse for several years now, and the housing industry remains deeply troubled across the country, suggesting that it would be far worse were it not for investors. Data released by the National Association of Realtors recently shows that investors represented 17 percent of all home sales in 2010 nationwide, the same as the previous year. But in recent months, investment activity has picked up, according to Walter Molony, an association spokesman, who attributed the increase to relatively cheap prices and the lack of available credit for homebuyers.

There is no shortage of deals in Florida. The Census Bureau recently reported that 17 percent of the homes in Florida were vacant. Even though the figure includes vacation homes that were unoccupied at the time of the survey, the underlying rate within the state reflects a sustained downturn.

The median house price in Florida, meanwhile, had dropped to $121,900 in February, from $257,800 in June 2006, a decline of 53 percent, according to Metrostudy, a housing research firm. Indeed, some houses and condominiums in Florida are selling for roughly the price of a practical family sedan, new or used.

For instance, a two-bedroom house in Port Charlotte, just south of North Port on the gulf coast of the state, recently sold for $8,000, and listings for $25,000 homes are not uncommon. Many experts expect prices to drop even further.