Tampa Bay home sales up 20 percent from a year ago
Florida's housing market is showing signs of stabilizing even without government incentives propping it up.
In the Tampa Bay area, 2,921 existing homes changed hands last month. That's up 20 percent from a year ago. The median sales price was $135,600, up 2 percent from April.
According to Realtors, most of the state's metro areas have reported increased sales for 23 consecutive months.
Florida has been lagging much of the country in awaiting improved housing prices. The National Association of Realtors reported Friday that the median home sales price in May was up 2.7 percent from a year ago with just under a third of homes sold during the month being distressed properties.
"The housing market has to get back on its own feet," said the Realtors chief economist Lawrence Yun, "and now appears to be in a good position to return to sustainable levels."
UF: real estate markets have hit bottom
Florida's housing market is showing signs of stabilizing even without government incentives propping it up.
In the Tampa Bay area, 2,921 existing homes changed hands last month. That's up 20 percent from a year ago. The median sales price was $135,600, up 2 percent from April.
According to Realtors, most of the state's metro areas have reported increased sales for 23 consecutive months.
Florida has been lagging much of the country in awaiting improved housing prices. The National Association of Realtors reported Friday that the median home sales price in May was up 2.7 percent from a year ago with just under a third of homes sold during the month being distressed properties.
"The housing market has to get back on its own feet," said the Realtors chief economist Lawrence Yun, "and now appears to be in a good position to return to sustainable levels."
UF: real estate markets have hit bottom
Things are looking up on the real estate front, the University of Florida says.
"Results of our first quarter survey indicate that the real estate market in Florida has hit bottom and is in the process of stabilizing across most property types," Timothy Becker, director of UF's Bergstrom Center for Real Estate Studies, said in a statement.
While unemployment and foreclosures will continue to affect housing, areas of the state are rebounding.
"The glut of condos is actually starting to change hands -- they're beginning to rent them up.”
The apartment sector remains the hottest in the state because of demand from residents moving out of foreclosed homes, Becker said.
The Bergstrom Center says it conducts quarterly surveys of real estate trends by interviewing leaders and professional advisers in the industry.
Bay Area Home Prices Stabilize. Condo Sales Nearly Double.
Median sales prices of homes in the Bay area are stabilizing as more and more homes are coming off the market, the latest report from Florida Realtors says.
The Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area experienced a 21 percent jump in single-family homes in March, slightly below the state average, selling 2,782 homes compared with 2,292 the year before.
Condo sales in the Greater Tampa Bay area nearly doubled to 991 units in March compared with the year before.
Statewide, existing home sales rose 24 percent to 16,294 from 13,090 homes sold in March 2009. The median price statewide was down 3 percent to $137,000 from $141,300 in the same year-ago period.
Florida Realtors also reported statewide sales of existing condos rose 63 percent in March to 7,148 from 4,387 in March 2009.
NAR's latest outlook anticipates a rise in home sales in late spring, which should help to absorb inventory. Increased pending sales is a positive sign for home prices, which are continuing to stabilize, according to NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.
BeachWay Breaks Sales Records
Canadian and American buyers have purchased 12 units at BeachWay in the past few weeks, breaking old sales records, according to Sales Manager Kathy Saville.
“Traffic has been non-stop, mostly from people who’ve seen our “Sacrifice Sale” tv commercial,” says Kathy.
“People are looking for value, but equally important, they want stability. A number of our buyers tell us stories about going to see nearby short sale properties and foreclosures and walking away because each has problems and complications.”
“We’ve got government approved financing and our condo association is in excellent financial standing. Plus, our staff is wonderful. They are willing to spend as much time with each visitor to show them around, make them comfortable, and answer all their questions.”
Condo sales explode in Bay Area for November
The existing condominium market may be roaring back to life in the Tampa Bay area.
Sales in November nearly doubled in what has been considered a highly troubling market, growing from 480 units to 920, according to new data released Tuesday by Florida Realtors.
Median sales prices of condos in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater are right on the state’s average with units selling for $104,500. Sales overall grew 80 percent from 370 units to 665.
“The continued, gradual absorption of housing inventory will help stabilize home prices,” Cynthia Shelton, president of Florida Realtors, said in a release. “National research notes that housing affordability is at its peak, and the highest on record.”
Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, said the housing market could return to normal by the second half of 2010. “The tax credit is helping unleash pent-up demand from a large pool of financially qualified renters, much more than borrowing sales from the future,” Yun said in a release.
Economist Mark Zandi says recession will end this year
First, the good news. Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Economy.com, believes the Great Recession will end this year.
That will surely be welcomed by just about everyone. During this difficult economic period, more than 8 million jobs have been lost. Housing starts have dropped to an annualized level of 500,000 units, down from more than 2 million in 2005. Banks large and small have failed...
But as the economy regains its footing this year and next, Zandi said growth will happen—and quickly. In 2010’s fourth quarter, for example, he forecasts housing starts to return to an annualized pace of 1 million units, and a 1.6-million-unit annualized level in 2011’s fourth quarter. “Once we work through the impediments to demand, I do think we’ll see substantial pickup in economic activity in 2011 and 2012,” he said.
Home Prices RisingBy CONOR DOUGHERTY and JAMES R. HAGERTY
Real-estate prices increased for the fourth consecutive month.
The S&P/Case-Shiller home price composite 20-city index rose 1.2% in August from July, with help from lower mortgage rates and a push from the $8,000 federal first-time home-buyer tax credit that expires next month. The 20-city index is down 11.3% from a year ago.
In 17 of 20 cities, the not-seasonally adjusted price index was higher in August than in July. Affordability has improved, providing an opportunity for some households that were priced out of the market as well as for cash-toting investors. Home prices have returned to 2003 levels, according to Standard & Poor's.
Home Prices, by Metro Area
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