The Hillsborough County housing statistics for December 2010 are in, and the news is mixed. For those not aware, Hillsborough County is where the city of Tampa, FL is located.
The best way to compare single family housing statistics is to compare one month with the same month from a year ago rather than from one month to the next. This is due to numbers being skewed by holidays and seasonal differences.
Comparing December 2010 with December 2009 we find the number of single family homes for sale increased 11%, while the number of homes under contract increased 30%. The homes under contract normally become the sold homes, so there are some bright signs for the not to distant future. Finally, the number of homes sold in December increased by 8.5% year over year, also a good sign. The one negative of course is the 11% increase in housing inventory which tends to dampen prices.
There is just under 8 months of inventory, about the same as a year ago, so we are still in a strong buyers market, with buyers still holding the upper hand in negotiations.
Sales prices decreased 1.1% over the past year so basically prices have held fairly steady.
The old saying about Real Estate being local is so true. Even though overall Hillsborough County sales prices only declined 1.1% over the year, some zip codes had price increases, while others lost almost 30% of their value. For buyers and sellers, it is important to have a Realtor who knows the differences for each area.
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