Home sales, prices sink in January

Tampa Bay area home sales started off the year on a down note, dropping 24 percent in January compared to sales a year earlier.

Sales totaled 1,235 last month versus 1,627 in January 2007. The percentage drop was less severe here than across the state. Florida's sales decline was 28 percent, from 9,360 homes in January 2007 to 6,737 in January 2008.

News on the pricing front was also mediocre. The median sales price locally fell from $220,100 to $187,100 the past year, a decline of 15 percent. The state's price decline was 14 percent.

Thee is one consolation: January sales generally stem from contracts signed during the relatively slow Thanksgiving-to-Christmas pause. Real estate optimists predict sales will bottom out this year and slowly turn upward.

- James Thorner, Times staff writer