UPDATE 1-St. Joe suspending sales at a Florida development

NEW YORK, May 18 (Reuters) - Florida real estate developer The St. Joe Co. (JOE.N) on Friday said it was temporarily suspending sales at its SevenShores luxury condominium development in Bradenton, Fla., while it updates its market research.

"The slowing market has provided an opportunity to measure and analyze current demand so that we can better align our future product offerings before moving forward with sales," Nick Cassala, the company's president of Northeast/Central Florida, said in a statement.

The company began selling units at SevenShores, a planned gated-condo community on a lake, about a year ago.

Florida, which was one of the hottest U.S. home markets just two years ago, has suffered under the sagging housing market.

Luxury condo and single-family home builders in Florida, such as WCI Communities Inc.WCI.N, also have suffered as those who planned to buy have canceled their orders and others have stayed away unwilling to risk falling home values. (Additional reporting by Neetha Mahadevan in Bangalore)