The RE/MAX National Housing Report and How It Relates to Tampa

If you only follow the national real estate statistics, you might have a skewed perspective of what’s happening on a local level. Here’s what’s really going on in our market.

The RE/MAX National Housing Report comes out every month, and it discusses national statistics for home sales. These statistics can be misleading; you might see a number that suggests sales are down for the year on a national scale, but that doesn’t mean sales are down locally.

It’s important to remember that when you’re looking at national real estate trends, it’s a little like hearing a weather report that says the average high temperature in the United States is 82 degrees. That’s simply an overall look at the national average, and it shouldn’t be used to determine the weather (or market activity) on a local scale.

Local market statistics may be doing much better or worse than what the National Housing Report says. The most recent report from September noted that real estate values were up 5.6% year over year, but sales were down 11%.

This is interesting because if you look at Tampa, for example, sales are actually up 8.2% year over year; that means we’re outperforming the national market trend as a whole.

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Overall, I think this softening of the market will do us some good.

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If you watch the news about real estate, you’ve probably heard that a market shift is imminent. I think that it will impact Tampa, stabilizing and flattening out the market. Because there are so many home sellers who are having trouble selling, there is more inventory on the market for buyers. Many of these sellers are concerned that they won’t be able to find or buy a home to replace their listing.

Overall, I think this softening of the market will do us some good. It’s creating more inventory for buyers, and it will eventually make sellers comfortable enough to sell. Prices are at historic highs, but the number of sales hasn't decreased here as it has nationally. Further to that, we’re experiencing a lot of job growth via corporations relocated here, in addition to our booming local economy. We’re still seeing a lot of great things here in Tampa Bay.

This shift we’re expecting is not the same thing as a recession—we’ll simply be moving from having three months of inventory to having around four, five, or six months’ worth. The shift means the market is balancing, which in turn means that there won’t be as much pressure on either buyers or sellers.

For any questions you have about buying, selling, or moving to a new home, please reach out to us. We’d be happy to help you partake in that adventure.