Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater existing home sales soar higher than most of the state, while average home prices rise nationwide.
By KRIS HUNDLEY
Published August 14, 2003
As existing home sales rose significantly nationwide and in Florida last spring, the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area ranked among the hottest markets.
Sales of existing homes in the metro area, which included Pinellas, Hillsborough and Pasco counties, rose 28 percent compared to spring 2002. One reason why were buyers such as Matt Hoffer of Tampa.
Hoffer, a single executive in his early 30s, looked for his first home for six months before he found a three-bedroom, two-bath house in the northwest Hillsborough community of Westchase in April that was priced right.
"I wanted space and something more permanent," said Hoffer, who said low mortgage rates were a factor, but not a major one in his decision to become a homeowner. "It was just the right house at the right time."
In the quarter that ended June 30, 9,851 homes in the Tampa Bay area changed hands, the largest number sold in any Florida metro area. The 28 percent increase over a year ago was the biggest gain in a major market in the state. The rate of change was higher only in Tallahassee and Gainesville, where considerably fewer homes were sold than in the Tampa Bay region.
Statewide, existing home sales were up 10 percent, with 55,197 homes sold. The median sales price in Florida also rose 10 percent, to $154,700 compared to $140,300. Median home prices in the Tampa Bay area rose 9 percent to $140,400 compared to $128,800 a year ago.
Even with the increase over the past year, the local area's housing prices look like a bargain compared with most other major metro areas in Florida, adding to the bay area's allure. By comparison, Sarasota-Bradenton's median home price is $184,100; the median home price in Fort Lauderdale is $222,200.
The Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro area includes Hernando County, but Hernando's figures were not available.
Phil Duffield of Duffield Brothers Realty in St. Petersburg said Pinellas County seems to be attracting homebuyers from both Hillsborough County and workers relocating from outside Florida. He also has seen more renters making the decision to buy.
"That has been one of the large boons to the market," he said. "And with the low interest rates and financing available, most of them are buying right at their limits."
According to the National Association of Realtors, all of the nation's 126 metropolitan statistical areas reported increases in existing home sale prices for the first time since the trade group began reporting data in 1982.
"Normally, even in very strong sales markets, there are about a half-dozen metros somewhere in the country that for one reason or another have a temporary price decline," said David Lereah, NAR's chief economist. "Not only is every market positive, but also a record number of metropolitan areas are experiencing double-digit price gains."
The NAR reported that nearly 1.67-million single-family homes changed hands in the second quarter, compared to 1.57-million a year ago. Nationally, the median existing home price rose to $168,900, up 7.4 percent from second quarter 2002 when median price was $157,300.
U.S. home-price gains averaged 7.5 percent in the first six months of 2003, but are expected to slow to about 5 percent in the second half, Lereah said. Annually, price increases probably will average 6 percent in 2003 compared with 7 percent last year. That was the fastest pace since 1980, when it was 12 percent.
Barbara Izzi, a saleswoman with Smith & Associates in Tampa, said the local home-buying market seemed rejuvenated after the official end of major combat operations in Iraq in May. And with mortgage rates slowly ticking up in the past few weeks, she's seeing people who are eager to buy quickly, fearing further rate increases.
The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage fell to 5.21 percent in June, according to Freddie Mac, the second-largest U.S. mortgage buyer. By last week, it had risen to 6.34 percent.
Despite the overall strength of the local market, Izzi said larger homes now are taking a little longer to sell. "I think sellers are becoming a little more realistic."
Fastest selling are homes in the $250,000 to $350,000 range, Izzi said, "But those are becoming rare."
- Information from Times wires was used in this report. Kris Hundley can be reached at hundley@sptimes.com or 727 892-2996.
