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Trinity Homes 'Have Held Their Values Better'

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By CARL ORTH

The Suncoast News

Published: June 15, 2008

TRINITY - While the housing market is still trying to pull out of a steep nosedive, the value of houses in this portion of southwestern Pasco County has weathered the housing crisis better than many areas.

"The higher-priced homes have held their values better," Pasco Property Appraiser Mike Wells said. "But across the board, everything has gone down some."

The county has shed about $3 billion worth of assessed value on all properties this year, Wells estimated in recent weeks.

This has been the "most difficult time" he has seen in the 12 years he has served as property appraiser, Wells said.

Values likely will fall more in 2009, before a recovery starts in 2010, Wells projects.

That's when Medical Center of Trinity is scheduled to open. Some residents hope the hospital will boost the area out of economic doldrums.

The $218 million facility with 236 private-room beds will replace Community Hospital of New Port Richey.

"I don't think it matters what income level it is," Commissioner Ann Hildebrand said. She thinks all home values have been affected.

Hildebrand, whose district includes the Trinity area, sympathizes with residents trying to make ends meet.

"I've heard that people are upside down," Hildebrand said.

The term upside down, or negative equity, refers to when the mortgage debt on a house is greater that the house's market value.

These upside-down owners were tempted to refinance mortgages or take out home equity loans when interest rates were low and were caught in the collapse of housing values, Hildebrand said.

The commercial property market has not been as bad, according to Hildebrand.

"Commercial hasn't taken as big a hit, that's what I've been hearing," she said.

"It's holding up better," John Grey, co-owner of Coldwell Banker Commercial F.I. Grey & Son, said of the value of commercial property.

Grey had been involved in the negotiations for the site for Medical Center of Trinity on State Road 54 near Little Road. The hospital should be a boon to the area.

Still, "commercial development is driven by rooftops in an area," Grey said.

The inventory of homes remains relatively high because tighter credit restricts the number of people buying.

"The money is cheap, but you still have to qualify to borrow it," Grey said. "It's kind of a ripple effect."

Joe Cash, a builder and developer in west Pasco, said he thinks "commercial is holding its head up."

"People haven't zipped up their pocketbooks completely," Cash said.

Home prices seem to be stabilizing, he said, since interest rates have dropped about as low as they will go.

"The hospital coming to that area will really help the commercial end of it," Cash added.

"There's a bright side to everything," Grey said about home values. "There's probably more good buys out there than the last five or 10 years."

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