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This is Tom Leber with the Homeward Real Estate Full Sale Team bringing you the news about real estate activity and values in the Heights and Central Tampa community!
It’s the end of the first quarter of the year and we just got March’s numbers in. There are some surprising things happening in the market today that you should be aware of.
49 homes sold in Central Tampa during March of this year. This is a decrease in home sales from last year of 48%. Tampa-wide the decrease was 29.5%.
The median price of sold homes was $400,000, a 5.8% decrease from last year. These homes sold at a median price per square foot of $293.
The new figures reflect that inventory continues to increase with 166 homes available for sale in Central Tampa, but this is a 315% increase since February of 2022. Tampa-wide this increase 153%.
Inversely the median number of days that homes stay on the market, once listed, is back down to 23 days. The net increase in home sales over newly listed homes last month did lower the available inventory down to now just over 3 months. Remember that 5-6 months of available inventory usually indicates a balanced market. So that metric still indicates that it is a sellers’ market.
I like to look back to compare sales trends of 2019 to today in order to get a perspective of the “normal” sales cycle pre-pandemic. As was typical then, and is today, sales dipped a little after the winter holidays and is beginning to pick back up. Traditionally sales continue to increase throughout the spring beginning in April. So we will see if that trend continues to hold.
The only concerning factor is that interest rates have remained at about 7%. When rates hit this level back in November both sales and home values dipped accordingly. The outcome will be positive if the Spring demand outweighs this further leverage on the market.
Many buyers that I have spoken with are still shocked about the rapid increase in mortgage rates since the depth of the pandemic interest rate adjustments that saved the US economy. But did you know that at the end of the first quarter of 2019 the average 30 year fixed conventional mortgage rate was at 4.75%. So looking back in comparison the current rates being applied to stem today’s inflation is only about 2 basis points, or 2%, above where we were before the economic downturn.
If you are thinking about selling your home this Spring your next best move might be to check out my new www.TampaBayHomeSellerClass.com. In this class we discuss the 3P Home Sales Process that clearly illustrates a predictable & pragmatic way to quickly sell your home for the most amount of profit while meeting all of your objectives. There is no requirement to sign up, nor provide any contact information unless you so desire to. There is a link below to get access to the class!
If you have any questions about this data, the real estate market in general, or about your home, please reach out to me directly at 813-420-9963.
This is Tom Leber with the Homeward Real Estate Full Sale Team. I look forward to seeing you around the neighborhood.
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