Why become a landlord in Grande Oasis at Carrollwood?

• Real Estate News and Highlights: Tampa Bay
  
  Why buy investment/rental property in Tampa, Carrollwood
  
  Some highlights, facts and anything else you should know:
  
  The Tampa Bay real estate market just keeps rolling along, fueled by still lower interest rates, scarce land availability for new construction, and high absorption rates for existing homes. According to the Pinellas Realtor Organization the average marketing time for a single family home is 51`days, Sales across the board were up 19%. in 2005, albeit that growth is predicted to slow in 06. Median prices in Pinellas County is an astounding 262,000. This should continue due to baby boomers and retirees continue to fuel the expansion.
  
  Tampa Bay is located on the West Central coast of Florida and encompasses the Tampa-St Petersburg metro area.
  
  Bordered by the sparkling Gulf of Mexico, Tampa Bay affords its residents 28 miles of world class beaches and balmy weather that averages about 75 degrees year round. The Tampa Bay area also excels in the arts, sports and many cultural events. Tampa Bay is a great place to live, work and play!
  
  Why is now a great time to become a landlord?
  
  
• The high cost of buying a home is forcing more and more people to seek rental shelter and that, in turn, is driving up the cost of rent in a fast-growing number of markets.
• Rents have turned the corner and are rising this year much faster than they did last year.
• Home prices were up 13 percent in the last year and 58 percent in the past five years nationwide -- have moved beyond the reach of many middle-income households.
• First quarter data reveals the new demand for rental homes is allowing more and more markets to find that "perfect balance" -- a 94 to 95 percent occupancy rate and demand generating a 5 to 6 percent annual rent increase rate.
• Rents for the database increased 3.6 percent annually to an average $926, while occupancy increased 1.4 percent annually to 93.6 percent, indicating obvious movement toward that "perfect balance."
• The first quarter was the fifth consecutive quarter the rate of annual rent increases has grown. Every major MSA showed an annual rent increase, except Tucson, AZ and Colorado Springs, CO, according to RealFacts.
• It seems that news of the deflating real estate bubble has not reached and prices of single-family homes continue to rise at rates that out pace the national average.
• Merrill Lynch analyst Steve Sakwa stated that 19 of the 48 markets Merrill tracks that saw strong home prices in the fourth quarter were in the South including Tampa and Orlando, FL; Houston, TX; Nashville, TN and Raleigh, NC.
• Indeed, recent research reveals an American migratory pattern of homebuyers fleeing largely to the South and other areas where home prices are cheaper. Those left behind who can't afford to buy often rent to keep a roof over their heads.
• After a few years of little movement, residential rents are expected to climb substantially, even as home prices may finally be plateauing.
• "This will be a good year for landlords," says Greg Willett, vice president for research and analysis at M/PF YieldStar, a consulting firm serving the multi-housing industry. "There will be rent growth as vacancy rates come down. Landlords feel comfortable enough now to start raising rents again."
• According to Willett, whose firm tracks 57 markets, rents will likely rise between 5 percent and 6 percent in 2006.
• High home prices and rising interest rates mean that hundreds of thousands of potential homebuyers cannot afford to buy a single-family home or condo, according to Brad Inman, founder of Inman News Service, which covers the real estate industry.
• "Not only that," he says, "but also lenders are tightening up their lending criteria, leading to fewer qualified buyers."
• Those who can't buy will rent.
• The Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater market FL is the 5th-highest appreciating market in the country according to forth quarter numbers, up 32.3%.
• Tampa Bay’s unemployment rate fell to 3.6% in September (2005), tying for the third-lowest level of any major metropolitan area after Washington, D.C., and Orlando, Fla., according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Drivers include professional and business services and tourism.
• According to the Wall Street Journal the promise of jobs is helping to draw more people to the region. For the 12 months ended in June the population rose by about 1.4%, or almost double the national rate, to about 2.6 million, according to Economy.com. Many of those moving in are young, offsetting the region's large retiree population.
• While the robust economy has benefited nearly every sector of the region's real-estate market, the influx of new residents has particularly boosted demand for housing. Median home prices in Tampa rose 27.8% in the third quarter to $213,500 from the year-earlier period, nearly double the national gain of 14.7% though prices are still relatively affordable at just below the national median of $215,900. Rising demand for apartments, slowing new apartment construction and the loss of rental units to condominium conversions pulled apartment vacancies down nearly three percentage points to 5.9% in the third quarter from a year earlier and rental rates edged up, says Property & Portfolio Research Inc., a Boston-based real-estate consulting firm.

If you would like to receive more information for yourself or your clients on how to acquire an affordable apartment in Tampa, Florida or the greater Miami area, with or without tenants, please contact me today!


Katerina Brosda, Broker Associate
Double Centurion ® Platinum Achiever

© Copyright, Katerina Brosda