Tampa Bay homeowners reaping big profits when they sell

Times Staff Writer

Tampa Bay residents who sold their homes last year made 22 percent more than they originally paid. That's a bigger percentage increase than for sellers in Orlando but less than for those in Miami-Fort Lauderdale.

According to Zillow, the median profit was $37,000 for bay area sellers, $37,900 for Orlando sellers and $51,500 for South Florida sellers. Nationally, home sellers last year made about $39,000, or 21 percent more, than what they paid. The typical seller had lived in the home for 8.4 years.

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"In a housing market that's been plagued by low inventory and increasing demand, homeowners in the nation's hottest markets have been able to cash in when they sell their homes," said Aaron Terraas, Zillow's senior economist. "Today's typical seller bought in 2010 – just before the national housing market bottomed out in 2012."

The biggest increases were in California, where the typical home in San Jose sold for 54 percent more than originally paid, netting a profit of $296,000. In the San Jose and San Francisco metro areas, sellers made more than the median value of the typical U.S. home.