TAMPA, Fla. — The price of paradise in the Tampa Bay area and across the country has skyrocketed from what it once was, and homeowners are asking if they would be able to afford their home if they bought it today.
As friends Elma Williams and Debra Mimmenger walked on a morning stroll, they reminisced about the good old days of how much they bought their homes decades ago.
“$80,000, probably $80,000,” said Williams, who bought her home 35 years ago.
“About $70,000,” said Mimmenger, who paid for her home about 30 years ago.
But the price tag today?
“Close to $400,000,” said Mimmenger.
“Everyone keeps trying to buy it from me, but no, I’m not leaving,” said Williams.
Mimmenger thinks if she were to buy her home today, she wouldn’t be able to afford it.
“I put too much in it, and the house is too expensive now,” said Mimmenger. “If I were to actually buy my house now, I would have to have probably two jobs or cut my retirement.”
In fact, a recent report from Redfin found nearly two of every five homeowners don’t believe they could afford to buy their own home if they were purchasing it today.
Redfin said that nearly three in five homeowners who answered the question have lived in their home for at least ten years, and another 21% have lived in their home for at least five years.
“The market from ten years ago to today has nearly doubled, if not almost tripled,” said Jessica Rasemont, a realtor at Sellstate Legacy Realty.
Rasemont said there are a couple of factors, like during the 2020-2021 boom when many people were moving to Florida.
“You had people coming in, paying cash, and paying over the value, so you had a lot of bidding wars,” said Rasemont. “So that set the standard a bit with the home prices. On top of that, you do have corporations that were coming in and overpaying for homes everywhere throughout the Tampa Bay Area in order to turn those homes into rental homes.”
Redfin also pointed to other reasons, such as rising mortgage rates.
Rasemont encouraged people who are buying a home to buy what they can afford in their monthly payments.
And from one owner to the next, their advice?
“If you’ve got a house, stay in your house!” said Mimmenger.
