Real estate sales up again

Statewide sales volumes for existing single-family homes and condominiums increased in the first quarter of 2010 compared to last year, but prices fell.

Home sales were up 24% in volume, according to a release issued by Florida Realtors, and condo sales increased 67%. But the median sales price for existing homes fell 5%, while the median sales price for condos fell 13%.

Prominent economists from the state of Florida differed slightly in their interpretations of the latest data, with the University of Central Florida's Sean Snaith suggesting prices may yet fall further.

“Median prices in most areas of the state continue to fall,” Snaith argued, while also noting that the rates of those declines have been slowing down, which he considers to be “indicative of a bottom approaching.”

Timothy Becker, director of the University of Florida's Bergstrom Center for Real Estate Studies, offered a slightly different interpretation. "Results indicate that the real estate market in Florida has hit bottom and is in the process of stabilizing across most property types," Becker said.

Prices actually rose in the Sarasota-Bradenton market, with home and condo median sales prices up 8% and 6% respectively; the Fort Myers-Cape Coral market saw only slight price declines (down 1% in both cases).

The median price for existing homes in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area was down only 1%, but the same metric fell 10% for existing condos.

Click here to view a table showing all of the most recent data for Gulf Coast Markets.