Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Supply of Tampa Bay area homes for sale shrinks to 5-year low

By the numbers

8,316 Homes and condos listed for sale in Pinellas County (BeachWay condos are located in Pinellas).

37% Decrease from a year ago in those moderately priced homes.

The amount of Tampa Bay area real estate for sale has fallen to levels not seen for almost six years.

Pinellas County listings for homes and condos fell last month to 8,316, a level last seen in December 2005.

Real estate experts say a healthy inventory supply is six months, meaning it would take about six months to sell all the inventory that is currently on the market. The lower the supply, the stronger the market.

Pinellas' supply peaked at 18 months in March 2007. Today, Pinellas' supply is 7.1 months.

John Tucillo, chief economist at Florida Realtors, said the inventory of less expensive homes has shrunk, but the market is still saturated with higher-priced homes. "You're almost getting a bifurcated market," he said. "We're seeing shortages in some price ranges."

Moderately priced homes are disappearing from the market.

Listings decreased 37 percent in the $140,000 to $159,000 price range in Tampa Bay. The figure fell from 2,587 in September 2010 to 1,638 last month, according to data from local Realtor organizations.

Florida, among the hardest-hit when the housing market imploded, appears to be stabilizing, according to a report from the real-estate website Realtor.com.

Edited from article appearing in www.tampabay.com.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Clearwater, St. Pete Real Estate Stats for August 2011

The housing market in Pinellas County for August has been relatively calm. Listings across the board continue to fall, so there are fewer homes and condos for sale, and prices are rising, albeit slowly.

Residential properties in the areas of $30k- $40k, $100k to $140k and $200k to $250k continue to be the strongest market price segments in the county.

Overall, residential market sales increased 23.9%, from August 2010 to August 2011. Median sales price for the same time period is up $3,000 month over month.

Condo sales from August 2010 to August 2011 are up nearly 26%. The median sales price for condos continues to remain relatively unchanged month over month. For August, it is $94,200. Condo listings decreased 23.9% for the same time period.

Source: Pinellas Realtor Organization

Friday, September 16, 2011

Pinellas County Home Sales Continue to Climb

Existing homes sales continue to be a roller coaster in Tampa Bay during May.

Home sales rose 6 percent, from 2,590 in April to 2,749 in May.

Existing sales in March skyrocketed to the highest levels in five years, raising hope that the housing market was healing from the wounds left by a faltering economy and a deluge of foreclosures.


(source: St. Petersburg Times)

Monday, April 25, 2011

Florida's existing home sales surged in March

Florida's existing home sales surged in March, recording the single biggest month since late 2005.

Sales of Florida condos and homes jumped 36 percent last month surpassing the rest of the U.S., according to figures from the Florida Realtors and the National Association of Realtors.

The news comes on the heels of the Times reporting Wednesday that Tampa Bay's existing sales in Pasco, Pinellas and Hillsborough counties jumped nearly 32 percent, from 3,258 in February to 4,296 in March.

Median sale prices in the Tampa Bay area increased from February for homes and condos.

The housing market is rebounding, said Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors. "Existing home sales have risen in six of the past eight months, so we're clearly on a recovery path," he said.

Cash and investors are dominating the real estate market in the United States.

Cash accounted for a record share of 35 percent of sales in March. The cash rates are even higher in several bay area counties. So far in 2011, 59 percent of sales in Pasco were made with cash. Pinellas logged 66 percent.

In Florida, single-family sales jumped 35 percent from February to March, with a median sales price of $126,300.

Condo sales exploded across the state, too. Sales rose 39 percent from 6,984 in February to 9,703 in March, and 24 percent from March 2010.

The worst of the real estate downfall may have passed, experts said.

Credit: St. Pete Times

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Foreign Buyers Expected to Revive Florida Real Estate Sales

Foreign investors are expected to bolster housing sales in Florida in 2011, with many looking to take advantage of the "undervalued" property that is on the market.

Florida home prices are bottoming out and international property buyers look like they are reviving the Florida housing market this year, Stirling Sotheby's International Realty has claimed.

Roger Soderstrom, chief executive of the company, forecast that there would be much more optimism in the sector and many prospective investors are beginning to move to secure a bargain home in a good neighbourhood.

"There is a segment of real estate in Florida that is undervalued today," Mr Soderstrom says. "Real Estate remains a neighbourhood business, and some neighbourhoods that have experienced fewer casualties in the housing market are performing much better than neighbourhoods with a large number of foreclosures."

Friday, February 18, 2011

Pinellas home sales jump nearly 28 percent in January

Pinellas County home sales jumped nearly 28 percent in January.

Real estate agents closed deals on 957 homes and condos, the best January since 2006, according to figures released by the Pinellas Realtor Organization.

Closings for single-family homes jumped nearly 36 percent to 595 last month from 438 in January 2010. Condo sales were 15 percent higher for the same time period. January is typically one of the slowest months for closings, the group said.

St. Petersburg Times, By Mark Puente, Staff Writer

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Pinellas Home Sales Soar

Pinellas County home and condo sales jumped 29 percent in December.

Closings for single-family homes jumped to 754 in December from 586 in December 2009, according to figures released by the Pinellas Realtor Organization.

When combining condo sales with single-family home sales, closings jumped 24 percent last month compared to one year ago.

Source: St Petersburg Times

Monday, January 3, 2011

Buy vs. Rent: An Update

NY Times by DAVID LEONHARDT

Below is an updated list of rent ratios — the price of a typical home divided by the annual cost of renting that home — for 55 metropolitan areas across the country.

A good rule of thumb is that you should often buy when the ratio is below 15 and rent when the ratio is above 20. If it’s between 15 and 20, lean toward renting — unless you find a home you really like and expect to stay there for many years.

Metro area

Ratio

East Bay, Calif.

35.9

Honolulu

34.4

San Jose, Calif.

32.7

San Francisco

27.9

Seattle

27.3

Charlotte, N.C.

27

Orange County, Calif.

27

New York (Manhattan)

26.7

Raleigh, N.C.

26.2

Portland, Ore.

25.9

North – Central New Jersey

25.2

Nashville

24

Denver

22.6

San Diego

22.1

Long Island, N.Y.

21.4

Milwaukee

21.4

Austin, Tex.

20.5

Norfolk, Va.

19.9

Richmond

19.7

Memphis

19.3

Bridgeport, Conn.

18.5

Hartford

18.4

Boston

18.4

Washington – Northern Virginia – Maryland

18.3

Oklahoma City

18.2

Baltimore

17.6

Columbus, Ohio

17.6

Palm Beach County, Fla.

17.6

Salt Lake City

17.6

Sacramento

16.7

San Antonio

16.7

Chicago

16.6

New Orleans

16.2

Philadelphia

16.1

Houston

15.9

Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

15.7

Miami

15.6

New York

15.4

Los Angeles

15.4

Kansas City, Kan.

15.3

Inland Empire, Calif.

15.1

National average for metro areas

15.1

Indianapolis

15.1

Jacksonville, Fla.

15

Minneapolis

14.9

St. Louis

14.6

Las Vegas

14.3

Atlanta

14.3

Orlando, Fla.

14.1

Tampa Bay, Fla.

14

Cincinnati

13.9

Dallas – Fort Worth

13.8

Phoenix

13.3

Detroit

12.4

Cleveland

11.7

Pittsburgh

11.4

It’s pretty amazing when you think about it. The country has suffered through a terrible crash in home prices, yet buying iffy in many markets.

The data comes from Mark Zandi of Moody’s Analytics and covers the second quarter of this year. Home prices haven’t changed very much since then, so I would expect ratios in most places to be quite close to the numbers you see here.

December 22, 2010, 11:01 am