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Hernando Today

Home prices fall in latest report

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By MICHAEL D. BATES

Hernando Today

Published: January 3, 2010

BROOKSVILLE - Marilyn Pearson-Adams, president of the Hernando County Association of Realtors, said she is not sweating over a newly released housing market that shows home prices fell 1.6 percent in the Tampa Bay metropolitan area from September to October.

"I'm not panicking," she said. "You can't take just one figure."

While it's true that prices in the county did fall during that period in Hernando County, Pearson-Adams believes there were extenuating circumstances and that prices will be more stable in 2010.

The S&P Case-Shiller home price index released Tuesday showed the Tampa area ranked at the bottom of 20 different markets in terms of home price losses in October.

But Pearson-Adams attributes the drop-off in October to buyer anxiety over the pending expiration of the First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit. Many rushed to finalize home purchasing contracts in September, she said.

Pearson-Adams also blamed a rise in short sales for skewing the numbers. A short sale is one where the seller is willing to take a lower price for the home than what is owed the bank.

In October, the average sales price for an existing single-family home in Hernando County was $117,932, down from $122,494 one year earlier.

Florida's median sales price for existing homes in October 2009 was $140,300, down 17 percent from one year earlier when it was $169,700, according to Florida Realtors.

Pearson-Adams said any progress in the housing market in 2010 will depend on the foreclosure rate, but she does expect to see some natural market appreciation in home prices anywhere from 3 to 5 percent, which is what the rate was prior to the boom year of 2004.
Pearson said the extension of the first-time homebuyer tax credit should continue to drive sales in 2010.

On Nov. 6, President Barack Obama signed into law an extension and expansion of the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit.

Among other provisions, the extension adds money for certain move-up buyers; creates one deadline for signing a contract and a later deadline for closing; changes income requirements; and limits a purchased home's cost to $800,000.

Cynthia Shelton, 2009 Florida Realtors president, said extending the buyer tax credit and expanding it to reach more homebuyers is the right thing to do, "as it's critical to maintaining positive momentum in the housing market and in the overall economy."

The news from November is not much better.

The average price of an existing single-family home in Hernando County was $107,575 that month, according to Multiple Listing Service statistics.

The median sales price for existing homes in Florida for November was $139,000, or 12 percent lower than November 2008, according to statistics from Century 21 Alliance Realty.

Reporter Michael D. Bates can be reached at 352-544-5290 or mbates@hernandotoday.com.

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