Slicing Tampa area home prices a different way

In regular conversations with University of Florida economist David Denslow, I'm constantly reminded of the link between Tampa area housing prices and those in other southeastern cities.

Denslow insists we won't fully climb out of our housing hole until our home prices are closer to what's available in places like Charlotte and Atlanta.

With that in mind, it was interesting to pull a report released last week by New York housing analyst Radar Logic.

Radar Logic keeps track of home prices per square foot in 25 major metro areas. The last report takes in July home sales. Homes in the Tampa area - defined as Pinellas, Pasco, Hillsborough and Hernando counties - sold for $111.31 in July.

So where do we fit in with our competitors in the Southeast? Well, we're far cheaper than Miami with it's $148.55 per square foot. The problem is, Charlotte's price per square foot is only $98.50. Atlanta's is $96.58.

The year-to-year price change is a familiar story: Home values declined 17.4 percent from July 2007 to July 2008. Ours was the 10th worst performance out of 25 metro areas.

Here's more from Radar Logic: Download radarlogicjuly.pdf

Price-per-square-foot data is valuable to help iron out any price measurement distortions from increased sales of smaller, cheaper homes. A boost in sales of $150,000 homes can make it seem as if the median or average price is plunging more than it really is.

   

Comments

[Tino]

So starter condos at $300-400 a square foot are overpriced?

I hope that someone tells the sellers!

[Gene]

Where in Tampa are starter condos going for $300-$400 a foot?

[Fuzzy Bear]

Denslow insists we won't fully climb out of our housing hole until our home prices are closer to what's available in places like Charlotte and Atlanta.

I would have to agree with Denslow as the Tampa Bay area is still over priced when compared to Atlanta. As I have mentioned in the past, the Tampa Bay areas incomes have not kept pace with the rapid increase in housing costs. There still remains a wide margin between the costs of housing and rental properties. What Denslow did not mention is that it is more expensive in the Tampa Bay area in terms of taxes on housing and insurance costs than the other areas.

The added expense will end up causing the consumer to drop back in the price level they are willing to pay just to compensate for the additional expense.

[Tino]

I'm sorry I said $300-400/sq ft. I should have said OVER $400/sq ft.

Check out these MLS# numbers for 1 or 2 BR condos under 1,500 sq ft (my definition of a starter condo):

MLS ID #7352565 - $450+/sq ft
MLS ID #T2265642 - $500/sq ft
MLS ID #7311013 - $400+/sq ft
MLS ID #7311011 - $400+/sq ft
MLS ID #7296258 - $400/sq ft
MLS ID #T2318436 - $475/sq ft

People are, with a straight face, asking almost a half million for a 900+ sq ft closet in this market.

[Ryan]

People maybe asking 400-500$ a sq ft, but that doesn't mean they will get it.

[yyyy]

Why do you have to make it sound like everyone is asking $300, $400, or even over $400 a square foot for a starter condo? Of course we have idiots out there asking way more than they should (what's new? there have always been idiots like that, in any market). But, look again, in downtown Tampa there are "starter" condo's going for less than $200 a square foot. The idiots will realize, the hard way, that their asking price isn't going to cut it. And, surprise...there are plenty of "starter" condo's in downtown Atlanta with idiot sellers, also.