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PO Box 1212 Tampa, FL 33601 Pinellas Updated November 2005
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Bay area home prices defy trend
Contrary to a statewide trend, home prices in the Tampa Bay area shot up to a record high in October.
The median resale price among single-family houses rose 4.9 percent locally to $225,700 last month, up from $215,200 in September. By comparison, the median - or midpoint - price throughout Florida fell 2.7 percent to $241,000, down from $247,800. It was the state's second such decline in three months, according to a survey by the Florida Association of Realtors.
Prices in both jurisdictions remained well above levels 12 months earlier. The median sale price grew 34.9 percent in the bay area from October 2004 to October 2005, and 27.6 percent across all of Florida.
The rise in bay area housing prices came despite a significant reduction in sales traffic last month, some of which was seasonal in nature. From September to October, the number of houses sold locally fell 15.9 percent to 3,735, while the number sold statewide fell 21.3 percent to 16,029.
From October 2004 to October 2005, the number of closings fell a more modest 4.8 percent statewide and actually rose 3.8 percent in the bay area, though the four hurricanes that struck Florida in 2004 skew the comparison.
All together, the statistics suggest Florida's once-booming real estate market is cooling, if more slowly in some markets than others.
The national picture is much the same. According to a report issued Monday by the National Association of Realtors, the median resale price for single-family homes in the United States rose 1.9 percent last month to $216,200, up from $212,200 in September. Meanwhile, the number of real-estate closings declined 9.5 percent, or 2.5 percent after adjusting for normal seasonal patterns.
"This signals that the housing sector has likely passed its peak. The boom is winding down to an expansion," said David Lereah, chief economist for the national Realtors group.
The weakness in existing home sales followed an earlier report that construction of new homes and apartments fell by 5.6 percent in October, the biggest setback in seven months. Applications for new building permits, a good sign of future activity, fell by 6.7 percent, the biggest decline in six years.
Lereah predicted that housing activity would cool further in coming months if, as expected, the Federal Reserve Board keeps pushing interest rates higher to combat rising inflation pressure. According to Freddie Mac, the average fixed-rate loan was 6.07 percent in October, up from 5.77 percent in September and 5.72 percent in October 2004.
"We feel confident that housing is landing softly as rates continue to rise," Lereah said.
--Information from Times wires was used in this report.
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