TAMPA, Fla. — After years of a scorching hot housing market, a new report labels the Tampa region as one of the fastest-cooling housing markets in the country.
The report from Redfin measured year-over-year changes from April 2023 to April 2024. Redfin looked at changes in home prices, price drops, inventory, and the share of homes that sell within two weeks. North Port came in first place, followed by Tampa and Cape Coral. In fact, six Florida cities rounded up the top 10. Lakeland listed at number 9.
The report cited an increase in natural disasters, a surge of new construction, high insurance costs, and rising home prices as the reasons markets on the West Coast of Florida are rapidly cooling.
As of April 2024, Tampa saw about 43% of home prices drop. Year-over-year, the number of price drops increased by 8%. Redfin said about 39% of homes on the market in Tampa sell within two weeks, but that number is down 11.8% from last year.
Put another way, homes are selling for less and sitting for longer in Tampa Bay.
A SELLER'S CHALLENGE
It's something Air Force Veteran Chris Weston is experiencing first-hand. After years of renting out his 3-bedroom, 2-and-half bath town home in Westchase he decided to put it up for sale in February, citing high prices of insurance and HOA fees as to why.
"The price of everything is going through the roof," Weston said.
He listed the property at around $480,000 in February, but when it wasn't moving like he thought it would, he decided to reduce the price, now listed at $435,000. He also upgraded the appliances, added new flooring and carpeting and fresh paint. However, it's now 5 months later and the property is still for sale.
"We have had one perspective buyer," Weston said. "It kind of took the wind out of our sails a bit because of how everything historically had been moving in Tampa, especially Westchase. We were counting in days and weeks and now the days and weeks turns to weeks and months.. it's like is there an end to this?"
It's a reflection of the Redfin report, which Weston's listing agent Heather Espinosa with Mihara and Associates realty is seeing first-hand.
"The Tampa market is definitely cooling down right now," Espinosa said. "Right now, we have 15 properties on the market and before the phone would ring, ring, and ring. Now, I'm calling the seller letting them know it's slow."
A BUYER'S LUCK
On the opposite hand of that, buyers in the Bay area are able to get creative with offers to get into a home, despite high interest rates.
First-time home buyers Wes Hughes and his wife Isabella Acosta sent us videos of them playing with their golden retriever in the backyard of their new home in Wesley Chapel. They first tried to buy at the height of the population boom during the pandemic.
"We put in three offers, we offered asking and we weren't even considered," Hughes said.
They ended up renting for another year and were apprehensive after months of bidding wars to try to buy again. That was until Wes started seeing more for sale signs popping up across the Bay area.
"I called Ken [his Realtor] and I was like 'Hey man, I'm starting to see for sale signs like what's going on here?'" Hughes added.
Within 24 hours, they had 5 showings. The couple put in an offer for the first house they saw, at under asking price, and got it.
"We were the only offer," he said.
"Oh, looks like we are buying a house," Isabella added laughing.
Not only that, they also struck a deal with the seller to get a seller's credit, bringing down their 7% interest rate for the next two years.
"It was a whirlwind," Hughes said. "I think we hit it at the right time. Honestly, I feel fortunate. I feel like we got lucky."
Their Realtor, Ken Jones with eXp realty, feels this report more reflects the market correcting himself, feeling it's staying stagnant.
"For the most part, we've kind of leveled off reading that article. You know, they're they're showing a 1.2% reduction, which I would consider a flattening," Jones said.
But he agrees a cool down is coming.
"The inventory has risen, the days on the market has increased for sure and the ability to be a little bit more creative with putting deals together is definitely there for the buyer," he added. "And for the seller, they're probably going to have to wait, now they're gonna get the contract on their house and be creative on what they offer the buyer to incentivize them."
To read the full report from Redfin, click here.
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