Report: Tampa home prices actually increased last quarter

After years of falling home prices, the Tampa metro area posted a quarterly increase, a sign of stabilization, according to a report from Calif.-based Clear Capital.

Home prices rose 2.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009, compared to the previous quarter, the report shows. The increase put the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area in the top 15 metro areas for increases.

The metro, however, did see a drop of 12.9 percent compared to the same quarter a year ago.

While the overall trend appears that home price declines are improving, this report seems to contradict another recent report that showed the Tampa area led the nation for home price declines in October. The area posted a 1.6 percent drop in October compared with the previous month and a 15.2 percent drop from the same month a year ago, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices.

The group's November report is expected later this month.

The Clear Capital report showed quarterly price gains nationally were 1.7 percent, yet prices dropped 1.3 percent for the year. That compares to a 20.4 percent year-over-year change posted in 2008.

"After watching home prices plummet the past three years, it is encouraging to see the year close with minimal price declines," Kevin Marshall, Clear Capital President, said in a statement. "The stronger positive gains we saw this summer have softened into the fall and early winter, but it's good to see that they've remained in positive territory.

"It's remarkable that home prices for the nation as a whole were generally flat for 2009, given this year's volatility that included record declines early in the year, followed by the gains of summer and fall."

Clear Capital provides real estate valuations and risk assessment for large financial services companies. The company said its customers include 75 percent of the largest U.S. banks and investment firms.

So what does all this mean?

The downturn is slowing in some areas, but economists expect home prices to keep falling nationally this year. In Tampa Bay, economists predict prices to decrease slowly this year through the third quarter.

The median sales price of existing homes in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro area hit $139,100 in November. It was $239,600 in June 2006.

Perhaps most surprising in Clear Capital's report is Detroit's 17.4 percent quarterly home price increase. Detroit, which saw prices plummet in early 2008, led the nation's metro in quarterly price increases.

Clear Capital attributed the gain mainly to foreclosures, which helped increase demand from investors wanting good deals. Fifty percent of the sales in the fourth quarter in Detroit were homes that were taken back by a lender in foreclosure.

In the Tampa area, 25 percent of the fourth quarter sales were homes that had been lost in foreclosure.