Tampa Bay Home Sales Increase in July, Inventory Levels Drop to 17-Month Low

Posted on August 16, 2008

The number of home sales in July increased by 0.6% from June, according to Home Encounter’s Residential Real Estate Report, released today.  “June is historically the busiest month for home sales in Tampa Bay”, commented Peter Murphy, Home Encounter CEO. “But this year, July’s sales volume topped June’s by just over half a percent, which is a drastic break from the norm.”

“Drastic” is no overstatement – there was a 14% decline in sales volume between June and July 2007. So a 0.6% sales increase – accompanied by a 3.2% drop in inventory – is giving real estate Agents something to smile about. “The continued increase in sales has pushed resale home inventory down to a 17-month low in Tampa Bay”, commented Murphy, “so by some measures, things are looking up.”

By other measures, things aren’t so good. Average sales prices in the Bay Area dropped another 2.4% in July. Add that to declines in prior months, and you’ll see that average home prices are down 6.1% from May and 10.2% from January 2008. Go back even further – to June 2006 – and Tampa Bay prices are down 25% over the last two years. “There’s no doubt that it’s the cheaper homes that are selling,” commented Murphy. “The average unsold listing is 35% more expensive than the average sold listing and has been listed for sale for almost seven months. So if you want to sell your home, price it cheaply.”

But the darker side of this price decline is that lower comparable sales – or “comps” as they’re referred to by Real Estate Professionals – make it more difficult for sellers to justify their asking prices. “Appraisers look at sales prices as a means to establish the value of property,” commented Murphy. “If comparable sales prices drop, appraisals decline, and ultimately so do values.”

Still, July real estate statistics add some welcome relief to a Real Estate market that can’t seem to catch a break. Home Encounter’s projections of the bottom-of-the-market even improved slightly from last month: Their projected bottom-of-the-market average sale price was just over 3% below today’s values and should hit somewhere in the first quarter of 2009.

The folks at Home Encounter can see light at the end of the tunnel. Let’s hope they’re right.

Peter Murphy is Co-Founder and Head Broker at Home Encounter, a Tampa-based real estate Consultancy with specialties in Residential & Rental Properties, Investment Real Estate, Property Management and Land & Commercial Properties. Murphy’s analysis of the Tampa Bay housing market is featured extensively in local media and in trade publications, including the St. Petersburg Times, the Tampa Tribune, the Tampa Bay Business Journal, the Lakeland Ledger, and the Orlando Sentinel. He has appeared on ABC Action News and Bay News 9 for his reporting on significant local developments in the real estate market. He is a regular contributor to Fox’s 970 WFLA news broadcasts and is a guest panelist on Fox 13s “Your Turn”, where he consults on local and national real estate market issues. Murphy has a B.S. in Economics from the University of South Florida and an MBA with an emphasis in Finance, Economics and Marketing from the University of South Florida School of Business. He resides in Tampa with his wife and child. фото зрел порно