TAMPA, Fla. — While the Federal Reserve hopes interest rate hikes will cool off the economy, the price of homes in the Tampa area jumped nearly 35 percent in the last year ending in March.
According to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller home price index, the average price for a home in Tampa rose 34.8 percent year-over-year through March. The jump was the highest of any market surveyed in the nationwide index.
Following Tampa in largest price growth were Phoenix, Miami, and Dallas. All of those cities showed price increases over the last year of at least 30.7 percent. Tampa taking the top spot made it the first time in three years Phoenix didn't lead in price hikes.
S&P found the month-over-month change from February to March in the Tampa market was 3.4 percent after rising 2.7 percent from January to February. Tampa's month-over-month gain was second in the nation to Texas.
While the rising prices may be good for homeowners, the question of when the market may cool off remain unanswered.
“Mortgages are becoming more expensive as the Federal Reserve has begun to ratchet up interest rates, suggesting that the macroeconomic environment may not support extraordinary home price growth for much longer," said Craig J. Lazzara, Managing Director at S&P DJI. “Although one can safely predict that price gains will begin to decelerate, the timing of the deceleration is a more difficult call."
