Tampa Bay home sales see best October in four years

By James Thorner, St.Petersburg Times Staff Writer Posted November 23rd, 2009 @ 11:29 AM

Tampa Bay home sales had their best October in four years as buyers rushed to take advantage of the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit.

Realtor sales in Pinellas, Pasco, Hillsborough and Hernando counties totaled 2,758 in October, up 37 percent from 2,021 sales in October 2008.

Last's month's closings were the highest since 3,735 homes changed hands in October 2005.
The data come from the Florida Association of Realtors, which noted that Tampa Bay home prices dropped 10 percent year over year, from $152,300 to $137,500.

Median home prices are 42 percent lower than they were at the peak in the summer of 2006.
Foreclosure and pre-foreclosure homes made up close to half of all sales in October. Cash buyers were everywhere, suggesting it was much more than first-time home buyers driving the market.

"We sold a half-million-dollar place on the beach to a couple from Scotland sight-unseen," said Mike Ward, a manager at Keller Williams Gulf Coast Realty in Seminole.

"We just keep plodding through and it all came to a nice culmination in October. Let's hope it continues."