Why Investing In Real Estate In Tampa Florida Is A Good Idea

Tampa Real Estate was not only one of the hottest real estate markets in 2017, the 5th hottest for rental homes but there is a huge demand in rental homes through 2019 and projected well into 2021. 

If you look at real estate data in Zillow it shows that the median home value in Tampa Florida is $219,100. Home values in Tampa have gone up over 2.5%.  The average list price per square foot in Tampa is $198.00/ft and in Clearwater, St Pete the average value is $146.00 per sq foot. The average price of a home that sold is currently $223,000 with a median rent at a whopping $1,600 per month just slightly higher than Clearwater which has an average of $1,585.00.  Plenty of room to make money in fix and flip and fix to rent investment homes in the Tampa area.

The picture below shows you that the average home value for homes in Tampa, Florida will pretty much stay flat in 2020. Currently the The “Zillow Home Value Index” for Tampa is $219,100. The Zillow Home Value Index is the median Zestimate (Zillow estimate) valuation for a given geographic area on a given day. The Zestimate home value is Zillow’s estimated market value for an individual home they calculate this for about 100 million homes nationwide. It is not an official appraisal but a starting point in your home valuation.

Tampa Housing Market Forecast 2019 – 2021

The predictive forecast for the Tampa housing market for the 3 years ending with the 3rd Quarter of 2021 is also positive. The Accuracy of the Trend Prediction for Tampa is 84%. Accordingly, LittleBigHomes.com estimates that the probability for rising house prices in Tampa is 84% during this period. If this Housing Market Forecast is correct, home values will be higher in the 3rd Quarter of 2021 than they were in the 3rd  Quarter of 2018.

Tampa Real Estate Market Trends

According to Trulia, Tampa real estate market trends 2% year-over-year rise in median sales price and a 3% rise in median rent per month. Tampa market trends indicate an increase of $3,100 (1%) in median home sales over the past year. The average price per square foot for this same period rose to $159, up from $152.

Trulia has 3,239 resale and new homes for sale in Tampa, FL, including open houses, and homes in the pre-foreclosure, auction, or bank-owned stages of the foreclosure process.

The median sales price for homes in Tampa for Nov 7, 2018 to Feb 6, 2019 was $225,000 based on 2,011 home sales. Average price per square foot for Tampa was $160, an increase of 9% compared to the same period last year. The median rent per month for apartments in Tampa for Jan 12 to Feb 12 was $1,550.

Tampa’s home resale inventories is 2,316, which increased 1 percent since April 2018. The median list price per square foot in Tampa is $170. April 2018 was $171. Distressed properties such as foreclosures and short sales surprisingly remained the same as last year as a percentage of the total market in May (Source: Movoto.com)

As per the online company called Redfin, the Tampa housing market is extremely competitive. Homes in Tampa Florida receive just 1 offer and typically sell in around twenty three days. The Tampa average sale price of a home was $245,000 last month, up an amazing 7.2% since last year.

The average sale price per square foot in Tampa is $154, up 7.7% since last year. Homes typically receive 1 offer. Homes in the Tampa housing market sell for about 2% below list price and go pending in around 23 days. Hot homes for sale in Tampa, FL can sell for around list price and go pending in around 7 days.

There are approximately 4,973 homes for sale on Realtor.com. 288 of which were newly listed within the last week. Additionally, there are 1,291 Tampa rentals for sale, with a range of $101 to $20,000 per month. In July 2019 the Tampa housing market was a seller’s market, which means there were roughly more buyers than there were active homes for sale.

What does all of this mean?
If i were to summarize the Tampa market will see a slight increase in home prices but an even larger jump in rental rates.  New companies continue to move to the Tampa metro. Employment is up and the job market is strong giving a boost to the home rental market.  For all of you real estate investors that wholesale properties or fix and flip and fix to rent properties, Tampa is a great market to invest.