Tampa home price gains slowing

TAMPA BAY — CoreLogic, a global property information, analytics and data-enabled services provider, has released its fourth quarter analysis of home price trends. According to the CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indexes, Tampa home prices are forecast to grow just 7% from the fourth quarter of 2013 to the same period this year. That marks a sharp decline from the 16.1% price increase from the fourth quarter of 2012 to 2013 and the 18.3% increase from the fourth quarter of 2010 to 2013.

Nationwide, the indexes estimate that home prices increased by 11.3% in the fourth quarter of 2013 compared to the same time in 2012. Home prices nationwide were 20% above the trough reached in the fourth quarter of 2011, but remained 21% below the peak reached in the first quarter of 2006. Price appreciation is expected to slow across all U.S. markets to 5.3% nationally through the end of 2014, slightly above its long-term annual average of 4.5% recorded since 1975.

Of the largest metropolitan areas, those with the greatest projected year-over-year gains through the end of 2014 are forecast to be Tucson, Ariz. (+11%), Rochester, N.Y. (+9%) and Hartford, Conn. (+9%). The largest metropolitan areas with the smallest projected gains are Nashville, Tenn. (+2%), Sacramento, Calif. (+2%) and Warren, Mich. (+2%).

“For the remainder of 2014, investor demand and sales of foreclosed properties should drop off quickly,” Dr. David Stiff, principal economist for CoreLogic Case-Shiller, says in a press release. “Traditional buyers are returning slowly to the market, but cannot replace demand from investors who led the market in recent years.”