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If you wanted to know that Tampa's average home price is one-ninth that of Dubai's, or that a modest house in Ireland will bust your mortgage at $1.6-million, Coldwell Banker's annual home price comparison index is for you.
The realty company's not-so-scientific survey of home prices in 398 markets around the world came out Tuesday. In each market, Coldwell seeks out 2,200-square-foot houses with four bedrooms and 21/2 bathrooms fit for a mid-level executive.
Tampa, with an average price of $285,000 for that narrowly defined home, came in 146th in the affordability rankings. It was 19 percent below last year's average price of $350,000 that put Tampa in 177th place in 2007.
Tampa was the fourth-most-affordable market of the 17 Coldwell Banker examined in Florida. Once again, the state's most expensive market was Key West, where a 2,200-square-foot house went for $818,239.
"It was designed to give people thinking about relocating an idea what their house is worth in their own market and enable them to plop it in a completely different market and see how much house they can get," Coldwell's Heather Roberts said.
For real crazy prices, you had to hang a left for the West Coast or go abroad. Domestically, La Jolla, Calif., topped the least-affordable category with an average price of $1.8-million. The San Diego suburb beat out last year's winner, Beverly Hills. In Dubai, set amid oil rich states of the Middle East, a junior executive would have to cough up a cool $2.45-million. Even Dublin, Ireland, and Bucharest, Romania, were in the million-dollar club. On the other end of the spectrum, you can get a four-bedroom home in Quito, Ecuador, for less than $96,750.
Coldwell admitted it struggles to find comparable home sales in congested foreign cities where apartment living is the norm and big houses are a rare luxury. Manhattan is omitted from the list for that reason. "Sometimes this type of home might not directly translate internationally," Roberts said. "The goal is try to get as close as you can.''
>>FAST FACTS
Thinking of moving?
What will a four-bedroom house cost you? It depends on where in the world you live.
Dubai $2.45-million
Greenwich, Conn. $1.79-million
Boston $1.5-million
Amsterdam $1.28-million
Key West $818,239
Miami $600,000
Orlando $343,000
Tampa $285,000
Las Vegas $272,000
Sioux City, Iowa $133,000
Source: Coldwell Banker
[Last modified: Sep 11, 2008 12:11 PM]
Comments on this article
by dean
Sep 11, 2008 12:11 PM
Sioux City, Iowa $133,000. Where??? And how old?
Sarasota homes were (at one time) increasing as much as 50,000 per month. The home might have only been one to two years old.
by Thomas
Sep 10, 2008 4:34 PM
You have compared the price of houses.
The differential is the real estate the houses are sitting on.
by Fuzzy Bear
Sep 10, 2008 4:17 PM
The problem in the Tampa Bay region is exactly what Jack McCabe says in the following quote:
??The three key factors are still inventory, foreclosures and affordability,? said Jack McCabe, a housing analyst. ?We still have way too much inventory".
by Candi
Sep 10, 2008 4:11 PM
Maybe they could hire a crew to move this home to a different State right? If they moved this house to Freswood Texas it would only go for half of what it's worth in Florida. And Freswood is a beautiful area. No crime and job's galore.
by Voila
Sep 10, 2008 4:06 PM
Has anyone bothered to look over on the side of the Bridge in Sarasota and its beach areas such as Longboat key and siesta key!!! and get this one can actually buy an affordable home too down there!!! Not like in California where there is no sense!
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