TAMPA, Fla. — It’s not your imagination. Home prices across the nation, and here in Tampa, are soaring at a rate not seen in the last three decades.
According to the Case-Shiller Home Price Index, the national composite rate jumped 19.7 percent year-over-year in July. That was up from 18.7 percent the previous month. The 20-City Composite showed a 19.9 percent year-over-year gain in July, up from 19.1 percent the previous month. S&P said home prices in 19 of their 20 cities now stand at all-time highs, with only Chicago still below its 2006 peak.
“We have previously suggested that the strength in the U.S. housing market is being driven in part by a reaction to the COVID pandemic, as potential buyers move from urban apartments to suburban homes. July’s data are consistent with this hypothesis,” said Craig Lazzara, managing director and global head of index investment strategy at S&P DJI.
Lazzara continued, “This demand surge may simply represent an acceleration of purchases that would have occurred anyway over the next several years. Alternatively, there may have been a secular change in locational preferences, leading to a permanent shift in the demand curve for housing. More time and data will be required to analyze this question.”
Phoenix, San Diego, and Seattle reported the highest home price gains with all seeing gains of more than 25.5 percent. The Case Shiller Home Price index reported 17 of the 20 cities in the index reported higher price increases in the year ending July 2021 versus the year ending June 2021.
Tampa was no exception from the exploding prices. Tampa’s price index in July was higher than the national average and grew 24.4 percent over the last year. Month-over-month, Tampa saw a 2.9 percent increase in prices from June to July and a 3 percent increase from May to June.
