Sales of Existing Homes – Tampa Bay Performed Better than the State

Published by nora | Filed under Market Trends, Miscellaneous, Mortgage / Finance, Real Estate

Sales of existing homes in Tampa Bay increased by more than seven percent in November, performing better than Florida’s slight rise in sales. Based on a report from the Florida Realtors, a total of 2,060 existing homes in the Bay area were sold in November, up by 7.12 percent from 1,923 units in the previous month. Statewide, a total of 11,900 existing homes got sold, up by only 12 units from the 11,888 units sold in October. That’s an uptick of only 0.1 percent.

Compared to existing home sales in November 2009, both Tampa Bay sales and statewide sales dropped sharply. But the statewide drop was more substantial than that in Tampa Bay. Sales in the Bay area decreased by 9.73 percent from 2,282 units in November 2009 while statewide sales dropped by 14.76 percent from 13,961 units in the same month in 2009.

Analysts contend that the year-over-year drop in sales of existing homes in Tampa Bay and in many other regions in November proved that the first-time homebuyer credit was an effective incentive for homebuyers. This is because the November 2009 sales were much higher than the existing home sales in November 2008 and in November 2007. Only 1,701 and 1,644 existing homes, respectively, were sold during these two months.

It was in November 2009 when a lot of first homebuyers closed on their home purchases as they were beating the November 30, 2009 deadline of the tax credit. Fortunately for many others, the purchase contract signing deadline was extended to June 30, 2010 with the closing deadline extended further.

The median sales prices also decreased year-over-year in both area categories in November. In Tampa Bay, the median dropped by 10.28 percent from $139,100 to $125,000 while across Florida, the median dropped by 4.74 percent from $139,300 to $132,700.

Of the 19 metropolitan areas in Florida that were included in the report, only four areas showed a year-over-year increase in median sales price. These were Fort Lauderdale, Fort Walton Beach, Tallahassee and the Melbourne-Titusville-Palm Bay area, with Fort Lauderdale posting the highest increase at 9 percent.

The three biggest drops in price were posted by Ocala, Daytona Beach and Pensacola. The lowest medians in November 2010 were $75,900, in Ocala; $89,800, in the Fort Myers and Cape Coral area; and $92,500, in Punta Gorda. The highest median prices were $208,400, in the West Palm Beach and Boca Raton area and $199,000, in Fort Lauderdale.

This month-over-month increase in sales of existing homes in Tampa Bay and across the state gives hope that the housing market is on its way to recovery.

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