Tampa posts best housing data since 2007

TAMPA — The first quarter of 2016 was a strong one for the Tampa housing market.

In the quarter, 2,131 single-family homes were started, according to data from Metrostudy. That marks a 50.7% increase over the first quarter of 2015 and the highest in a single quarter for the region in nearly a decade.

“The quarterly starts pace of 2,131 units was the single best quarter for starts since the first quarter of 2007,” Tony Polito, director of Metrostudy's Tampa market, says in the statement. “Tampa is now building about 82% of the twenty-year moving average.”

Single-family quarterly closings in Tampa totaled 1,700 units, a 23.1% year-over-year increase. For the year, the annual closings rate rose more than 25% to 7,161.

“Solid job growth, a falling unemployment rate compared to a year ago, record level employment and low interest rates all fueled an impressive quarter for housing activity in Tampa,” Polito says in the statement.

Tampa isn't the only region along the Gulf Coast to post solid numbers in the first quarter. The Sarasota-Bradenton market, with 1,443 single-family units started, posted its best data since the third quarter of 2006.