Testing Grounds The latest industry being outsourced to India is clinical drug trials. And any number of tragic things can happen on the way to your medicine cabinet.
Friday Night Rewind It doesn't matter which team you cheer for. We've got video previews of every high school football program in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Hernando County.
If the Tampa Bay area's existing-home sales are in a trough, new-home construction has plunged into the Grand Canyon.
Builders started just 1,155 homes in the third quarter that ended Sept. 30. That's 81 percent down from the peak of 6,162 housing starts in the first quarter of 2006.
It's no wonder that more than a half dozen local builders have closed up shop or declared bankruptcy.
"There's not a whole lot of room left between 1,155 and zero," said Tony Polito, whose consulting firm, Metrostudy, released local new-home statistics Thursday.
New-home closings — when a buyer actually moves in to the house — showed a similar drop. Their third-quarter pace of 1,410 is 76 percent below the peak of 5,749 in early 2006.
Polito predicts housing starts could revive in mid 2009, if only because they're so low right now. The average price of a new home locally has fallen to $232,600.
"Interest rates are low. If you're creditworthy, prices are down," Polito said.
Even if sales improve, the Tampa Bay area is strapped with too many vacant developed lots. Inventory totaled 31,451 in Pinellas, Pasco, Hillsborough, Hernando and Citrus counties.
Based on the recent home starts pace, that's enough ready-to-build lots to last more than six years.
>>FAST FACTS
Top neighborhoods
Neighborhoods are ranked by annual new home starts. All are in Hillsborough County, except for Trillium (Hernando) and Concord Station (Pasco).
K-Bar Ranch 153
South Fork 143
Cypress Creek 138
FishHawk Ranch 132
Trillium 113
Ayersworth Glen 112
Oak Creek 106
Concord Station 100
Summerfield Crossing 95
Panther Trace 94
[Last modified: Oct 31, 2008 07:39 PM]
Comments on this article
by Lin
Oct 31, 2008 7:39 PM
I'm not surprised housing starts are down 81% & the area has vacant building lots.According to U.S.Census info, last year there were about 24 million more housing units than households nationwide.Look at all the 4-rent & sale signs in St. Petersburg.
Subscribe to the Times
Click here for daily delivery
of the St. Petersburg Times.
News
