Bargains Aren't Hard To Find In County's Housing Market

By LAURA CONE In The Loop

Published: Sep 4, 2007

WESLEY CHAPEL - For the first-time homebuyer, timing, timing, timing - not location - is everything in Pasco County, where real estate agents say the slow housing market is beginning to change.

"The bargains are out there. Now is the time to buy," said Mary Berling, a Realtor with Re/Max Performance Realty in Wesley Chapel.

Berling said she thinks the housing slump is just about over. She has had a lot of nibbles but few bites.

"This last month people actually started to look," she said. "People are out again. If you are trying to sell, all you can do is be the lowest-priced one and have it in the best condition. You have to make it more attractive."

Berling said sellers are becoming more realistic about their sale prices.

With so many motivated sellers, including builders with excess inventory, she said, buyers can find what seem like miraculous deals.

She has a listing in the Quail Hollow subdivision in Wesley Chapel. The price of the home was reduced by $80,000 as part of the builder's final closeout.

"Competition is fierce," Berling said. "For Realtors, summer is our big time. We get most of our income through that. We are not going to have it this time. There are a lot of people putting off buying."

She said she has an easier time selling properties in Pasco County because she only lists homes with one or more acres.

"Each home is different," Berling said. "It's not like subdivisions where you find eight homes that are the same."

Berling also has noticed retired folks waiting to sell until the market bounces back.

Financial experts say some baby boomers - the 77 million people born between 1946 and 1964 - have little or no retirement money other than the equity in their homes.

With the Florida Association of Realtors reporting median prices of existing homes in Florida edged down as much as 4 percent the second quarter of 2007 compared with a year earlier, many baby boomers are sitting on their investment properties. They are hoping the real estate market will perk up.

But because of the sheer numbers, retirees may end up providing a steady flow of homes to stretch out instead of shorten the buyers' market.

Tina Capitano, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate, said some baby boomers don't try to rent out their second homes but are hoping to cash out on their investments.

"I think a lot of them are buying second homes," Capitano said. "That's what I saw. I think it's so hard for them to find something comparable to live in for what they have. That's why most of them aren't moving. Until the market turns around, they are hanging on to having two homes."

According to the Florida Association of Realtors, the statewide median existing home price was $250,400 a year ago compared with $239,200 this year. Sales of single-family existing homes was 37,709, down 30 percent from the 53,723 sold in the second quarter of last year in Florida.

Even though it's a tough time to sell a home, Capitano said, buyers are getting great deals.

Capitano, who has a home listed in the Sable Ridge subdivision in Land O' Lakes, said a lot of home sales are happening in Pasco County because of the growth and new construction.

"It's great right here for buyers," she said. "It's the best time for them to buy with all the inventory on the market. Rates are still low."