Zillow reports bay area home values continue to slide

Want evidence that speculative new-home construction bears a large responsibility for the current housing bust?

Check out the latest Tampa Bay area home value declines from Zillow, the national online real estate service.

New-home havens like Wesley Chapel, Land O'Lakes, Riverview and New Tampa dominated the top spots for depreciating homes. More established communities with older housing stock — think Indian Rocks Beach, Safety Harbor, Oldsmar and St. Petersburg — have taken fewer punches from falling prices.

In the first three months of this year, the overall median home value in the region settled in at $166,000, 17.1 percent below the median value during the same period in 2007, Zillow reports. Values peaked in mid 2006 at $215,500.

Generally speaking, the farther the home was from an urban center, the steeper the depreciation: Hernando County homes were down 20.5 percent, Pasco County's down 19.3 percent, Hillsborough County's off 17.6 percent and Pinellas County's down 14.7 percent.

The suburban fringe is also a hotbed of short sales, the practice of dumping homes for less than their mortgage value. That's helping drive down prices further.

"The ones having short sales are the ones bought on speculation with 100 percent financing in '04 and '05," said Craig Beggins, broker with Century 21 Beggins Enterprises in Apollo Beach.

Beggins flagged such neighborhoods as the ritzy waterfront Mirabay and the more modest middle Covington Park off Interstate 75. Both have suffered from a surplus of homes bought with a make-a-fast-buck mentality.

The suburbs-vs.-city and new-home-vs.-old-home differences don't stand up in every case. Redington Beach, with its plentiful condos, stands out as a top price-drop area. So do older houses in parts of Port Richey that appreciated too fast during the boom.

In related data released by Zillow, the typical Tampa area homeowner owed $12,000 more to his lender than his home was worth. That's an improvement over last year, when the negative equity amounted to $26,000 per house.

Where values
have fallen the most

San Antonio: 26.2 percent

Redington Beach: 23 percent

Wesley Chapel: 22.4 percent

Where values
have fallen the least

Indian Rocks Beach: 10.7 percent

Safety Harbor: 10.8 percent

Thonotosassa: 11 percent

Comments on this article

by kitty	May 8, 2008 2:29 PM
Mark, it's people like you who are the first to contact a government agency and upbraid people like pete, shouting that YOU pay THEIR salary!!! You expect them to be there 24/7, and your crappy attitude is the thanks they get.

by Joe	May 7, 2008 7:17 PM
The American Dream is now the American nightmare, greed and taking money seems to be all Americans know. Everyone wants to live the same dream why steel it, Get an education, work all your life to build America, but you should not dream the Americand

by jane	May 7, 2008 7:17 PM
When I purchased my home it was listed at 179,900 that was in 2006 it now appraise at 130,000, also due to the large amounts of forclosures I don't think it will appraise for 99,000 my home is 20 years old and my payment are 1,750 and no job wha

by Rick	May 7, 2008 12:09 PM
Blame the realtors and phony appraisles. Now place blame on the insurance companies for paying for homes twice as you go. Buy insurance double your payment! The finance Co didn't do this the realtors and insurance people did.

by Eric	May 7, 2008 11:25 AM
Zillow's overstating my value @ $472k. Says my house is 3000 sq ft (it's 2100). Prop appraiser's mkt value = $392k w/ comparable sales at $439k.

by Mark	May 6, 2008 2:24 PM
Poor Pete, if you are in a government job, it's only because you're not sufficiently competent to make it in the private sector. Stop complaining about being paid appropriately low wages, learn to do something useful, and contribute for a

by Jim	May 6, 2008 2:02 PM
A home is a place to raise your family. It should not be the average persons investment vehicle. Yea they normally go up in value , but you need to sell your dream or go into more debt to extract money from your "investment"

by Snoz	May 6, 2008 2:02 PM
Recent local unemployment figures don't wield such a rosy picture as you Realtors are still trying to sell us. The recent cuts in State budget will cause a decline in public services making areas less attractive to move into. We're not at b

by Jim	May 6, 2008 12:20 PM
But prices will always keep going up, Now is not a good time to buy, but a great time to buy, a thousand people are moving into the Tampa Bay area every week, Buy now or be priced out forever. The Tampa Bay housing market is a result of the greed!

by kitty	May 6, 2008 12:19 PM
Perhaps light rail through those suburbs would help prop up home values. Who wants to buy a home 25+ miles from where you work, considering gridlock and gas prices creeping toward $4 a gallon - and NO alternative public transport?

by Bob	May 6, 2008 12:19 PM
Don't expect prices to come back up. The world economy is going down the drain along with the US dollar. If you own US assests you are screwed.

by Gray	May 6, 2008 12:19 PM
Zillow's figures are very wrong and that is the resaon it is not used by agents in the business. If you would like CURRENT information pulled off of the MLS go to the FREE site, cyberhomes.com It pulls its comps from the MLS, same as Appraisers.

by Chuck	May 6, 2008 12:18 PM
Whether Zillow is accurate or not, home values have dropped significantly over the past year.

by Rick	May 6, 2008 12:04 PM
What??? Amendment One didn't create a housing boom?? You mean, schools will lose money, less cops, less services, Universities will see their budgets dissapear, and houses still won't sell? But I thought Amendment One was gonna solve everyt

by SMK	May 6, 2008 12:00 PM
Hey Pete- Who told you your home should be worth more then you paid? Governor Crist? Get another job.

by Marc	May 6, 2008 11:58 AM
Pete, looks like you bought too much house. Can't blame Gov Crist for that. Maybe you should have bought a used house in an established neighborhood. That's what I did and my home value is still practically what it was five years ago.

by Tony	May 6, 2008 9:33 AM
As a former builder in Wesley Chapel and Trinity I was part of the problem, greed was the main factor. If they were stupid enough to pay the outrageous prices we would be glad to take their money.

by dt	May 6, 2008 9:30 AM
zillow is NOT exactly an authoritative source of ANYTHING...

by Sal	May 6, 2008 9:29 AM
Hold on for the change-up. Within a year you will hear that these same areas are the ones gaining in value the fastest. Boom and bust, it makes the world go around!

by nick	May 6, 2008 9:21 AM
Zillow is probably the least reputable of all the online home value sites. Try realtor.com for more realistic numbers.

by Joe	May 6, 2008 9:21 AM
Zillow's figures on the list of sold homes are all wrong. Go to your local propperty appraiser's office website & check out your local home sales with Zillow figures. You'll see what i mean.

by Pete	May 6, 2008 9:16 AM
Thank you Gov Crist. My home is worth less than I paid for it and my state wage won't pay for it with no raise for the second year in a row. No wonder people rob banks.