With prices and mortgage applications falling, and the number of repossessions and empty homes soaring, the US property market has had a bad year – and there may be worse to come. Some pundits have suggested that as many as 2m people in America will lose their homes over the next few months, which will only put further downward pressure on the market.

Given the country’s size and diversity, it is not surprising that the picture varies dramatically from one state to another, and even from area to area. Although Los Angeles was recently described by Forbes magazine as the city with the most overvalued property in America, prices of top-end homes in Beverly Hills have risen by 6% this year. Manhattan, too, remains blue-chip. Generally speaking, it is the market in the areas on the fringes of the hot postal codes that are cooling the fastest.

Florida, where most British buyers head, has been especially badly hit by the downturn, which is so serious that it is threatening to drag down the state’s broader economy.

Miami was at the centre of the “condo flipping” boom earlier this decade, when investors, banking on ever-increasing prices, bought up flats off-plan with the aim of selling them on for a profit on or before completion. The market has since turned, however, leaving many such buyers with a stark choice: complete the purchase at what now seems an inflated price or walk away, losing a hefty depot. The number of properties being repossessed in greater Miami has risen by 30% during the past year.

Other cities in the state, such as Orlando, Naples, Fort Myers, Tampa and Sarasota, are also suffering substantial property gluts. In Orlando, for example, there is an unprecedented 29-month supply of condos, with sales 64% lower than they were a year ago. The market for houses is also in trouble.

For the agents pushing Florida property to British buyers, such falls make it the perfect time to pick up a bargain. But make sure you negotiate hard, and don’t be in too much of a hurry to do a deal: with most experts predicting that the market will get worse before it improves, there could be more and better bargains to come.

Or why not avoid the traditional spots and venture instead into the American hinterland? In small college towns in Missouri and Ohio, stunning five-bedroom Victorian properties can be snapped up for as little as £70,000. Towns such as Asheville, North Carolina, offer mild weather, low crime rates and civilised company – and all a thousand miles from the nearest theme park and Union Jack pub.

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