Florida and Tampa area home sales keep rising (St. Petersburg, Clearwater: real estate market, foreclosures)

[bentlebee]

TAMPA - Home sales in Florida and the Tampa area continued to rise in February, bucking the national trend, new data show.

Sales of existing homes rose 21 percent in the state and 10 percent locally, according to Florida Realtors.

There were 2,050 sales during the month in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area. That compares with 1,856 during the same month last year.

Some experts think sales are increasing as buyers try to find homes before federal tax credits expire in April. February sales were up over January, when 1,603 homes changed hands.

Florida and Tampa area home sales keep rising

[housingcrashsurvivor]

Testing the tax credit theory, I'm about to put my remaining south Florida house on the market for the month of April. If it does not sell within 30 days at a fair price (fair in today's reality) then I'll take it off market and rent it out instead.

It will be very interesting (read: scary) to see what becomes of the real estate market and this economy once (if ever) government supports are withdrawn. I would not be surprised to see the time frame on the tax credit extended a second time should the economy slip moreso.

[algia]

Then I guess it is us, in Florida/Tampa again that are trying to screw with the market? (again)
according to this article the prices are dropping.............hhmmmmmmmm
New home sales drop 2.2 percent in Feb. to new low - Yahoo! News

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by algia

Then I guess it is us, in Florida/Tampa again that are trying to screw with the market? (again)
according to this article the prices are dropping.............hhmmmmmmmm
New home sales drop 2.2 percent in Feb. to new low - Yahoo! News

Yes, sales are up, but overall prices are dropping. But again, this is in general. Some neighborhoods are not dropping anymore, such as the one I am in here in Sarasota.

[Mike1306]

Originally Posted by algia

Then I guess it is us, in Florida/Tampa again that are trying to screw with the market? (again)
according to this article the prices are dropping.............hhmmmmmmmm
New home sales drop 2.2 percent in Feb. to new low - Yahoo! News

According to the article the sale of new homes dropped not the prices.

There was some positive news for builders as the median sales price climbed on both a monthly and yearly basis. It rose to $220,500, up more than 5 percent from a year earlier and up about 6 percent from January.

This does not address existing homes which are the majority of sales.

[bentlebee]

Originally Posted by housingcrashsurvivor

Testing the tax credit theory, I'm about to put my remaining south Florida house on the market for the month of April. If it does not sell within 30 days at a fair price (fair in today's reality) then I'll take it off market and rent it out instead.

It will be very interesting (read: scary) to see what becomes of the real estate market and this economy once (if ever) government supports are withdrawn. I would not be surprised to see the time frame on the tax credit extended a second time should the economy slip moreso.

The tax credit is only for homes under a certain prize....there are other incentatives coming soon from other companies and I hear more and more that some are done with their homes and want to move, so when the foreclosure wave has settled down, I guess these folks will be having their homes on the market and in for a bigger home.

After all it sounds like 80% is in financial trouble but in reality it is a small group that caused the prizes to go down so much.

Some communities are seeing their home values go up little by little.

[lavender]

I also think that there is some influence from the snowbirds at this time of year. Not huge, but it all helps, I have sold to two this way in 2010. Not a lot, but I only work with buyers dont do listings and of course buyers even in this market have been cautious. Until the foreclosures really have peaked and really do start to disappear, the prices will not stabilize, hasn't historically, so I don't see it improving - despite little pockets - overall for a long time. Once prices level off, they will most likely remain that level for a good few years only changing slightly, again given there will always be little pockets that buck that trend. Not likely to be a market for a quick return for a long time but if you are in it for the long term, then it is worth looking around.

[vaughanwilliams]

Here we go again.

[algia]

What's "funny" is how media can't stop talking about it and just leave it alone......OK, we know, some people default for a million reasons....why is this still news every day? what's going to change if they keep beating the same horse?

[housingcrashsurvivor]

At least we haven't been identified as a double dip market (tough to double dip when you haven't come out of the first dip)...

Home Prices ‘Double Dip’ in 12 Cities, Zillow Says (Update1) - BusinessWeek

"Double Dip Markets
The double dip in home prices through January also was seen in Colorado Springs and Greeley, Colorado; Augusta, Georgia; Columbus, Ohio; Harrisburg and Lancaster, Pennsylvania; Little Rock, Arkansas; Green Bay, Wisconsin; Greensboro, North Carolina; and Lincoln, Nebraska, according to Zillow.
Ten other markets, including Boston and Denver, “seem poised for a double dip,” the company said.
Zillow still expects home values to bottom out by June, said Humphries."