Tampa Bay home sales up 30 percent in July

Here comes that 2002 feeling again.

Tampa Bay property owners sold 2,822 single-family homes in July, a 30-percent improvement over the 2,174 homes that sold in July 2008.

To put it in perspective, the July sales numbers are slightly better than those in July 2002 and slightly worse than those in July 2003.

The latest report from the Florida Association of Realtors also notes a 19-percent price drop over the year, from $176,500 in July 2008 to $143,100 in July 2009.

"I think we're on the road to recovery, and even though most markets report they've seen the bottom, it's going to be a long climb," said Timothy Becker, director of the University of Florida's Bergstrom Center for Real Estate Studies.

Of Florida's 19 largest real estate markets, only Gainesville's sales declined year over year. Statewide sales were 15,882 in July, up 37 percent from 11,595 in July 2008. Sales doubled year over year in Cape Coral-Fort Myers.

Tampa Bay's home sales in July were down a hair from the 2,848 that sold in June, but the median sale price increased from the $139,400 recorded in June. Prices appear to have flattened — or even risen a little — since bottoming in January.

Realtors report that a third to a half of transactions in the Tampa Bay area involve foreclosure or pre-foreclosure homes. That has been dragging down housing values, which leads to more foreclosures.