Tampa Bay’s June home sales, listings tick upward
After recent month-to-month sales declines in Tampa Bay and nationwide, which were widely blamed on the lack of homes for sale, both sales and listings were up in June, according to new numbers released Thursday.
Nationally, sales of single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops were up 1.4 percent from May to June, according to the National Association of Realtors, and were up nearly 23 percent from a year ago. Inventory was up by 3.3 percent from May.
“Supply has modestly improved in recent months due to more housing (construction) starts and existing homeowners listing their homes, all of which has resulted in an uptick in sales,” said Lawrence Yun, the association’s chief economist. “Home sales continue to run at a pace above the rate seen before the pandemic.”
Single-family home sales were also higher in June compared to May in Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco and Hernando counties, according to statistics from Florida Realtors. Compared to last year, sales increased in all four counties, as well, from a 2.7 percent increase in Pinellas to a 11.5 percent jump in Pasco.
New listings during the month were up in all four counties — by as much as 42 percent year-over-year in Pasco.
The amount of housing inventory for sale is often measured in months, as in the amount of time it would take the current batch of for-sale homes to be depleted if sales held at the current pace. The uptick in listings caused inventory to tick up by one-tenth of one month in each of the four counties — though it still remains below one month in all, dramatically less than the 2.6-month national average.
Ann Rogers, a St. Petersburg broker associate at Foresite Residential Real Estate, said even though the inventory changes are slight on paper, they’ve been very noticeable in the market.
“It’s making a huge difference,” she said. “Now all of a sudden, there’s stuff to send my customers.”
There are still bidding wars, Rogers said, but they’re a little less ubiquitous. And she’s noticed price reductions on houses that were listed too high, a shift that she’s watching to see if it continues into a multi-month trend.
“I think what we’re going to see is some people taking a pause and saying, ‘If we’ve reached the top of the market, I don’t want to be the last one to pay the highest price in the neighborhood,’” Rogers said. “It’s these little changes ... they’re insignificant because we only have one month of data, but this is how the industry works.”
Prices also continued their upward sprint last month. The median sales price hit $375,000 in Pinellas, $345,000 in Hillsborough, $311,000 in Pasco and $257,000 in Hernando, all of which were more than 20 percent higher than this time last year.
