For Florida real estate, happy times will not be here again any time soon. So what's next?

Florida, we have to figure out what is next. Two stories in the Sentinel help illustrate that yesterday's growth engines -- construction and new residents -- are stalled and aren't coming back any time soon.

First, Orlando's home prices will likely continue to fall before edging up slightly late this year and next:

Economist David Stiff said that, if he was moving to Orlando, he would rent for a while before he considered buying a home.

Orlando house prices will fall by double-digit percentages through the third quarter of this year and then increase by less than 2 percent from late 2010 until late 2011, said Stiff, chief economist for Fiserv Inc.

Other areas of the state -- Sarasota, for example -- are likely to fair better. But Florida has plenty of inventory and a building boom isn't going to rescue us any time soon.

Neither will a population boom:

Demographers estimate the state will have grown by 23,000 between April 1, 2009 and April 1, 2010, following an estimated decrease of 57,000 the previous year."The point is both years are extremely low by our historical standards," said state demographer Stan Smith.

[...]

"The question is how long is it going to take to get back into a little stronger growth," Snaith said. "What we forecast is a state that is much slower in growth than we have historically seen in Florida."

In some ways, this represents opportunity. Florida has been hooked on growth like it was heroin for too long. Now, there's no choice but to go through rehab.

So what's next? It's not aerospace. Alternative energy? Shipping due to the Panama Canal expansion?

It's probably not a single answer. I'm just not sure enough of us are asking the question. We have lots of sand here, but that's no excuse for burying our heads in it.