Tampa area home sales plummet 19 percent

TAMPA - The federal home buyer tax credit is over and, boy, does it show.

Sales were down a whopping 19 percent in July, compared to the same month last year. That follows a 13 percent increase in June.

Sales haven't dropped this much since Feb. 2008 when sales dropped 29 percent. Sales in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area haven't fallen at all since May 2009, when sales slid a modest 1 percent.

The credit – up to $8,000 for first-time buyers and $6,000 for repeat buyers – expired in April. That, combined with rising unemployment, is putting a damper on home buyer demand.

Economist worry it could get worse because the July data still reflects some of the boost given by the credit. Those taking advantage of the tax credit have until the end of September to close those deals.

There were 2,283 homes sold in July in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area, compared to 2,822 last year. The median sales price was $130,500, down 9 percent from $143,100 last July.

Nationally, sales fared even worse. Sales fell to the lowest level in 15 years.

The National Association of Realtors said July's sales fell by more than 27 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.83 million.