June Was Tough On Real Estate In Tampa Bay

After recently reporting that the median price for single family homes in Tampa Bay had jumped 18% in the first few months of 2011, today the St. Pete Times is saying that the median price fell 9% over June of last year.

According to the paper, sales volume fell 11% compared to a year ago, and the median home price dropped to $126,500 as compared to $138,400 from a year past in the Tampa Bay area.

Here are some other interesting factoids that were reported in the paper:

• Buyers are having trouble getting mortgages or meeting the larger down payment requirements now required by lenders. This is making home purchase more difficult.


• Many property sales are being cancelled prior to closing because of lower than contracted appraisals. If the property does not appraise properly, the mortgage is cancelled by the lender. About 16% of home sales were cancelled in June due to appraisal problems.


• Normally, first time buyers make up about half of the market for home purchases, but that number has dropped to only 31% due to high unemployment and the reluctance of banks to lend.


• Declining home values have made people feel less wealthy. This means they spend less when they buy a home, so the median price is falling.


• Buyers are cancelling purchase plans at the last minute after reviewing their appraisals. Many times, these appraisals show that the value of the house was less than the contracted price.

Finally, the paper pointed out that across the country and in Florida, short sales and foreclosures represented about 30% of sales last month. Many foreclosures are being held up because of backlogged courts or lenders awaiting federal and state probes into various kinds of foreclosure practices.

All this combined to bring June's figures down. I guess all you can say is: "it is what it is".

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