What Was Your Property Worth In 2003?
Those wanting to sell a house in the Tampa Bay area today should first ask themselves this question: What was my property worth six years ago?
Try and give an honest answer. Don't inflate it to where you wish it was, but try to determine what it was really worth back then. What would you have paid for your house in 2003?
Remember, this was before the big price run up of 2005-2006.
Got the number? Good.
You know what? That's what your house is worth today according to the latest S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index. The index shows that home prices have fallen 39 percent in the Tampa Bay area since reaching their peak in July of 2006. This drop in prices means that values today are where they were in November, 2003. Some 23-percent of that price drop has taken place from February 2008 to February 2009 in Pinellas, Pasco, Hillsborough and Hernando counties.
We must be at or near the bottom of the market now, right? Well, maybe not.
Economist Joshua Shapiro informed the Wall Street Journal that "We continue to believe that it is unlikely that we are anywhere near a bottom in nationwide home prices." That's bad news for sellers, great news for buyers.
My suggestion to home sellers is simply this: If we are at 2003 prices now and it looks like prices may continue to drop, you need to adjust your price to current market conditions now and get the house sold at today's prices. If you wait and do not lower your price, the value of your property will likely be even less with the passage of time. In other words, sell it for what you can today, or perhaps take less in the future.
Apparently, the bottom is not in sight.
For more information on real estate in the Tampa Bay area, visit my website at www.TheStPeteRealEstateSite.com.
Try and give an honest answer. Don't inflate it to where you wish it was, but try to determine what it was really worth back then. What would you have paid for your house in 2003?
Remember, this was before the big price run up of 2005-2006.
Got the number? Good.
You know what? That's what your house is worth today according to the latest S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index. The index shows that home prices have fallen 39 percent in the Tampa Bay area since reaching their peak in July of 2006. This drop in prices means that values today are where they were in November, 2003. Some 23-percent of that price drop has taken place from February 2008 to February 2009 in Pinellas, Pasco, Hillsborough and Hernando counties.
We must be at or near the bottom of the market now, right? Well, maybe not.
Economist Joshua Shapiro informed the Wall Street Journal that "We continue to believe that it is unlikely that we are anywhere near a bottom in nationwide home prices." That's bad news for sellers, great news for buyers.
My suggestion to home sellers is simply this: If we are at 2003 prices now and it looks like prices may continue to drop, you need to adjust your price to current market conditions now and get the house sold at today's prices. If you wait and do not lower your price, the value of your property will likely be even less with the passage of time. In other words, sell it for what you can today, or perhaps take less in the future.
Apparently, the bottom is not in sight.
For more information on real estate in the Tampa Bay area, visit my website at www.TheStPeteRealEstateSite.com.
-30-
posted by Terry Ward at 3:55 AM
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