Tampa's home sales strong as buyers chase tax credits

Bay area home sales jumped 34 percent in November, as buyers took advantage of a federal tax credit incentive. Meanwhile, sales prices showed more signs of stabilizing, according to the Florida Realtors.

There were 2,282 existing, single-family homes sold in the Tampa-St.Petersburg-Clearwater metro area during the month, compared to 1,701 sales during the same month last year.

That comes on the heels of a 36 percent sales increase in October and several months of double-digit increases. The median sales price fell 7 percent in November to $139,100.

"Things are stabilizing," said Pete Flint, chief executive of real estate Web site Trulia.com. "There is a significant amount of buyer interest out there."

When it comes to prices, the month-to-month comparison is bright. Prices have been falling for nearly three years on an annual basis but have been fluctuating for the past six months.

November's median is actually higher than September and October's median sales prices of $137,800 and $137,500, respectively.

On the condo side, sales increased 80 percent, reflecting foreclosures and distressed sales. There were 665 sales in November, up from 370 a year ago.

Nationally, home resales surged last month to the highest level in nearly three years.

Buyers were racing to complete their sales before the original expiration date of a tax credit for first-time buyers scheduled to expire Nov. 30. Last month, Congress decided to extend and expand the credit to ensure the housing market could sustain its recovery.

The Realtors estimated that about 2 million homebuyers have taken advantage of the credit so far and forecasts that another 2.4 million will use it by the middle of next year. First-time buyers made up about half of all transactions last month, driving sales up 44 percent above last year's levels, a record jump.

Sales are now up 46 percent from the bottom in January, but down 10 percent from the peak more than four years ago.

The median sales price for the nation was $172,600, down 4.3 percent from a year earlier, and up 0.2 percent from October.