I’ve been posting here recently about the big jump in buyer activity here in Tampa (Buyers Coming Back For Tampa Homes), so it’s no surprise to me to see today’s report from NAR regarding the jump in the Pending Home Sales Index. Demand has certainly risen steadily throughout the year. The chart below represents the number of pending listings in the City of Tampa. Not hard to see that since February, demand has really taken off. It was in February that the president signed off on the Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 that includes an $8000 tax credit for first time home buyers.
Tampa Home Listings Pending
And we need these first timers because much of what they are buying (or attempting to buy) is the distressed stuff, the pre and post foreclosure properties. The majority (59%) of the pending listings are either short sales or bank-owned properties. The road to price stability starts with decreasing the number of distressed mortgages. Forecasts are for that distress to increase through the remainder of 2009.
Meanwhile, the number of active listings is steadily decreasing as well, now well below 7000, at a level we have not seen since July of 2006. All good news for Tampa real estate.
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