Economy deflates number of $1 million homes

Two-thirds of Hillsborough County's million-dollar homes are in South Tampa. But there are only about half as many million-dollar South Tampa homes as there were at the height of the market.

Property values of million-dollar homes in South Tampa and countywide have plummeted each year since 2007, county property records show.

Back in 2007, there were 2,314 homes assessed by the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser's Office at $1 million or more – including 1,341 in South Tampa.

Now there are 1,125 million-dollar homes countywide, with 752 in South Tampa.

There haven't been so few million-dollar Hillsborough County homes since 2004 – when the real estate market began to boom.

"This is the way real estate works in Florida," said Rob Turner, the county's property appraiser. "Historically will see the real roller coaster in Florida. The value rises at a greater rate than other areas of the country, and then Florida will come down when values cool or real estate cools in the market.

"It goes up just like the temperature – very high in Florida. Unfortunately, at the other side of the roller coaster, it does come down hard."

Turner said his office is "guardedly optimistic" that it is seeing some of the worst of the drop now and that things will pick up in the coming years.

"Time is going to work us through this," he said. "I would think ticking up is going to accelerate. … Again, it started already in some of the South Tampa neighborhoods. We'll see that kind of spread, we hope, in 2012 and into 2013 – some very positive things."

Through 2011, though, the value of the remaining million-dollar homes also slid.

Four years ago the typical million-dollar Hillsborough County home was appraised at $1.7 million and the typical million-dollar South Tampa home was appraised at $1.8 million. Now the average homes are appraised at $1.3 million countywide and $1.5 million in South Tampa.

Eighteen of the county's 20 most valuable single-family homes are in South Tampa.

"It is certainly where people are willing to make the greatest investment," Turner said. "Some of the areas of South Tampa are very compelling from a value standpoint. Still great investments."

Preliminary estimates assess Derek Jeter's Davis Islands' abode at $8.6 million – Hillsborough County's most valuable home by roughly $2 million.

Mark and Christel Yaffe's Avila home is the second-most valuable, at $6.6 million.

Other South Tampa celebrities whose property values are in the top 20 include Bryan Glazer ($5.5 million), Jeffrey Vinik ($4.7 million), David Straz ($3.9 million), Joan Steinbrenner ($3.8 million) and Joel Glazer ($3.6 million).