ORLANDO - The frenzied condominium building boom in Florida's major cities appears to be slowing dramatically, and as a result some developers may scrap their plans while others shift to apartment construction.

At least that's the assessment of some of the builders and developers gathered here at one of the nation's largest annual builders conferences, the International Builders Show.

"There are too many high-end projects in many of the cities in Florida," said Bill Donges, chief executive officer of Lane Co., an Atlanta firm that specializes in developing and managing multiunit projects.

Donges was among the builders and developers who sat on a panel Thursday to discuss the outlook for the condominium and apartment market. Panel members said they expect major condo projects that are under way in Florida's major cities to be completed but for unsold units in those projects to take longer to sell. That could further cool the appetite for starting high-rise condo construction projects, panel members agreed.

A representative from the National Association of Homebuilders, the show organizer, said there still is a demand for condominiums, including the dozens scheduled to open in downtown areas of Florida's big cities this year.

However, panel discussion members said too many developers latched onto the boom and planned more projects than the market can absorb - particularly luxury high-rises.

Developers in Florida cities such as Tampa, where more than 30 condo buildings have been proposed for downtown, likely will scratch more than half of the planned developments or postpone them until the condo market gains steam again, Donges predicted.

"These high-end units will be in the market and will have to be absorbed at some time," he said.

In Tampa, eight condos are expected to open in the downtown core this year. Several are nearing completion, including SkyPoint, Grand Central at Kennedy and Towers of Channelside. The developers have said their projects are nearly sold out.

Panel members noted that many units being built in Tampa are priced for a well-heeled clientele, and that raises an affordability issue.

Prices for condo units in projects planned for Tampa have ranged from $200,000 to more than $1 million, with the majority of sold units priced at more than $300,000. That's more than the median price of a single-family home in the Tampa Bay area.

Donges said his company wanted to jump into Tampa's condo market and was planning to build one at Kennedy Boulevard and Hoover Street. But as the market slowed, the company decided to build a 210-unit luxury apartment building on the site.

Steve Patterson, chief executive officer of Orlando-based Zom Inc., also sat in on Thursday's panel discussion. He said his company, which historically has been an apartment builder, converted many of its projects to condominiums in recent years and got into condo tower development.

But the company is changing its strategy now and focusing on building apartments, converting some condos back to rental units and trying to build more affordable apartments.

In Tampa, the company has focused on apartments, including the Arbors at Carrollwood and Arbors at Fletcher Island.

The apartment-to-condo conversion trend has been white hot in the Tampa Bay area, where several high-end apartment complexes near the city were converted to condos. As the median priced single-family home jumped from the low $100,000s in 2000 to about $230,000 in 2006, converted condos in suburban areas offered an affordable alternative to some homebuyers.

In all, more than 28,000 Tampa Bay area apartment units were purchased for condo conversions in the past 2 1/2 years, according to New York-based Real Capitol Analytics, which tracks real estate trends.

With so many condo conversions in suburban areas, there is a demand for affordable work-force housing, Patterson said

"We're faced with having to pay these high land prices and construction prices and still build affordable" units, he said. "We're going to have to push the limits on rents and accept bare minimums on returns." Many of the converted condos are sitting empty, and investors who fueled the conversion boom by buying up blocks of units are struggling to sell or lease them.

"The conversion started with Class A apartments, then the conversion craze moved down. Apartments that were built in the 1970s were converted," he said. "That eliminated many affordable units."

Reporter Shannon Behnken can be reached at sbehnken@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7804.