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House prices sizzle in South Tampa
By BABITA PERSAUD, Times Staff Writer
TAMPA -- At times, the rise in South Tampa house prices seemed unstoppable in 2002. In June, the average home sold for almost $400,000. That was the peak, which was distorted by several expensive sales. But when 2002 closed last week, the average home sale price in South Tampa for the year was $300,892, according to the Multiple Listing Service, a database of homes sold by Realtors. "It has been a very good year," said Jim Sweetin, a broker with Re/Max Realty in South Tampa. By comparison, home prices are a bargain elsewhere in Hillsborough County. The Brandon area remains the best buy, with an average home cost of $152,534 last year. New Tampa averaged $247,418, and northwest Hillsborough, including Lutz, Odessa and Keystone, averaged $240,493. The price differences are even more dramatic when reduced to square feet. These days, a South Tampa ranch home costs as much as $160 a square foot. That compares with $93 a square foot in New Tampa and $78 a square foot in Brandon. A home on Watrous Avenue recently sold for $360,000. It was built in 1917, has 1,871 square feet, three bedrooms and two baths. It does not have a garage, or even a carport. But it sits near Hyde Park. In trendy South Tampa, even tear-down houses -- old homes bought solely to be razed and rebuilt -- go for as much as $300,000. Fixer-uppers can go for even more. Consider the two-story, 2,521-square-foot home now for sale on W Hills Avenue, near Gunby Avenue. Its white paint exterior is peeling. Its foundation rests on cinder blocks. According to property appraiser records, parts of the house are "run down and in poor condition." The asking price: $518,000. The reason: The home is blocks from pricey Bayshore Boulevard and restaurant-lined S Howard Avenue, and sits on two lots. Simple economics are pumping up the South Tampa housing boom, said Linda Hallgren, a broker with Smith & Associates who has more than 20 years of experience in Tampa real estate. The limited supply of homes in South Tampa drives up prices. And demand is high, including for higher-end homes. "There were quite a few more homes in the million-dollar range than last year," Hallgren said. Waterfront homes -- of which South Tampa has many -- also were a hot commodity. One home, Hallgren said, "sold word-of-mouth before it got into the computer." Although South Tampa has the highest prices, it is not the hottest market. That distinction goes to Brandon. According to the Greater Tampa Association of Realtors, Brandon, on average, sold about 302 homes a month last year. Other high-turnover areas include Carrollwood (130 homes a month), and New Tampa, (115 a month). South Tampa sold about 71 homes a month. Overall, housing trends here mirror what's happening nationally. Even as stores struggle and the stock market fizzles, the housing market continues to sizzle. The reason: low interest rates. A few years ago, typical first-time buyers could afford a home costing no more than $140,000. Now, a similar buyer can stretch to $180,000. And like a domino, the first-time home buyer sets the market in motion. "The fact that interest rates are the lowest they've been for 40 years drives the market from the bottom-end up," said Sweetin, the Re/Max broker. But while the market dictates price, some fear a bubble. The November issue of Consumer Reports said the Tampa-St. Petersburg housing market is at least 13 percent overpriced. That's modest compared with other areas of Florida. In Fort Myers, for example, homes are 24 percent overpriced. In Fort Lauderdale, 35 percent. As the housing market enters another year, some worry the bubble could burst. Home prices in markets such as Houston, Seattle, Cincinnati and Baton Rouge fell between July and September, according to the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight. Still, the price decline was small, less then 1 percent in most cases. Locally, Realtors are predicting a successful 2003. "I don't feel the market will slow down," Sweetin said. "(It) has gone from strength to strength. I think it will continue regardless." Nolan Castro, a Coldwell Banker Residential Realtor, agrees. "As long as interest rates stay where they are now and things don't go nuts with what might happen in Iraq, I assume we're going to have another good year," he said.
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