The Maryland couple run Anthony Robbins & Associates, a training and consulting firm. They came for a million-dollar, waterfront home and to buy investment properties.

The couple moved to Tampa in July and have purchased three houses for investments. Now, they're considering something for themselves, a 2- year- old, 6,751-square-foot Apollo Beach home.

The asking price: $3.9 million.

``It is so cold up north and the weather is resortlike here,'' said Jennifer Zales, 36. ``Who wouldn't want to live in Florida?''

It's buyers like the Zales who are expected to keep Florida's housing market hot in 2005, even if interest rates rise and sales slow in Northern states.

``The very wealthy are making money in the real estate market right now and not in the stock market,'' said David Lereah, chief economist for the Washington-based National Association of Realtors. ``They are coming into the market and buying two or three homes. At the same time, the baby boomer generation is looking to retire and move to warm weather.''

Those are some of the factors, Lereah said, that have helped Florida's real estate market bounce back from four hurricanes.

The area from Tampa to Naples is particularly hot, Lereah said.

Lereah is so confident that he recently invested in a condominium in south Tampa's SoHo district.

``I put my money where my mouth is,'' he said.

Home sales started to slow just before Hurricane Charley hit the state in August because ``everyone was busy preparing'' and insurance agencies had stopped writing new policies, said Russell Grooms, president of the Florida Association of Realtors and a Jacksonville Realtor.

Florida's sales in September of existing homes were down 11 percent from the same month in 2003 but bounced back 5 percent in October and more in November, according to the state Realtors association.

The association expects to release year-end sales numbers for 2004 this month, and officials predict sales will top the record set in 2003 of 203,243, which was a 13 percent jump from 2002.

The number of existing Florida home sales has grown each year since 1994, when the Florida Association of Realtors began tracking its member Realtors' closings.

``I had national media calling thinking everyone was going to get out of Florida and no one would want to move here'' after the hurricane season, Grooms said. ``But that hasn't happened much.

``Because of the storms, it was extremely difficult to almost impossible to close on a home for about six to eight weeks. But even with the hurricanes, I think it will be a record year.''

Sales in November of existing single-family homes, the last month tallied by the association, were 17,116 statewide, a 9 percent increase over last year's 15,757 sales. Statewide, the median sales price in November was $192,400, up 22 percent from $157,400 a year ago.

Closer to home, the metropolitan area covering Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater saw 3,276 homes change hands in November, up 4 percent from the same month in 2003.

The median sales price in the Bay area rose 20 percent to $167,100, although it fell slightly from October's median price of $167,300.

There are no comparable local statistics for new home sales.

The National Association of Home Builders reports 21,330 single-family building permits were granted in Tampa/St. Petersburg during the first 11 months of 2004, up 15 percent from 2003.

Florida's hot housing market mirrors 2004 statistics for the national market.

The National Association of Realtors reported last week that 2004 was the best year for housing resales nationwide.

A record 6.14 million existing homes have been sold this year, surpassing the 6.1 million in 2003, the association reported.

However, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported this week that the number of U.S. mortgage applications declined 10.6 percent last week, reflecting the biggest decrease in overall home purchases since October 2003.

Some economists attributed the decline to rising home prices catching up with the market. But Laura Armstrong, vice president of public affairs for the banker's association, said the slip simply may be a result of a holiday lull.

Local bankers and Realtors say mortgage application rates are holding steady.

``We've actually seen applications increase this week, coming off of the holiday season,'' said David Donaldson, vice president of Residential Lending at the Bank of Tampa.

Donaldson attributes this to the ``growth of the work force and people looking to retire in sunshine and not cold weather.''

Reporter Shannon Behnken can be reached at (813) 259-7804.