Tampa Palms, Westchase, Carrollwood and Tampa Bay Real Estate News From Jeanne Prigitano

WOW! All things being considered, the Tampa Bay Area Housing Market ended on a high note in my opinion. Although December is usually a slow month, sales were actually up in December by almost 29% over November and even average sales price inched up slightly. I knew I was busy. I’m glad that others were too. Months inventory in Tampa Bay was 8 months at year end with approximately 14,500 properties for sale. Other than average sales price, we haven’t seen numbers like this since 2006. It may not seem like it, but this is all good news.

So, how did the Tampa Bay 2010 market compare to 2009? Overall 2010 sales increased by approximately 4% over 2009. Single family home sales were relatively stable with the greatest increase in sales seen in the condo market. Yes, the average sales price in 2010 was lower than 2009. However, it was only down 2.5% compared to a drop of 24.5% from 2008 to 2009.

What does this all mean? Who knows. Actually, I believe it shows a greater stabilization in the Tampa Bay housing market. Prices are still declining but not drastically or significantly. We may actually see stable prices in 2011. Inventories are declining approaching a more balanced market. On another very positive note, Moody’s Analytics (economic consulting form) is forecasting a 3% job growth rate for Florida in 2011 with the greatest projected growth of 3.4% in Orlando and Tampa.