Tampa Bay's overheated housing market
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Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
It's only going to get more difficult and expensive to buy a house in Tampa Bay.
What's happening: Tampa had the second-highest national home price increase for a metro market in September 2021 with a 27.7% increase, per the Associated Press, behind only Phoenix.
- Home values increased 28.7% from Oct. 2020 to Oct. 2021, valuing the average Tampa Bay home at $316,379, according to Zillow.
- In both September and October, Zillow reported that homes spent a median of just six days on the market.
Around the Bay: In Bradenton, demand is outweighing supply and even with increased prices, competition for homes is fierce.
- In October, the median price of a single-family home was $425,000, up 18% from 2020, while the number of sales fell 12.3%, per the Bradenton Herald.
- In Sarasota County, the median price of a single-family home increased 19% from last year to $410,000.
Behind the sales: Investors, or buyers representing companies, are part of why it's so hard to buy a home, local real estate agents told the Tampa Bay Times.
- They make it difficult for regular home buyers using mortgages because their companies can pay more and in cash.
- A record-high of one in four Tampa Bay home purchases were made by an investor in the third quarter, the Times reported via Redfin analysis.
- Redfin also found that investors have heavily targeted south St. Petersburg, Ruskin and Ybor City.
What they're saying: Alex Krumm, broker-owner of NextHome Excellence and president of the Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee, told the Herald that prices will continue to rise next year, most likely by a lot.
- "There simply aren't enough homes coming to market to offset the enormous demand," Krumm told the paper.