Cheap homes keep sales on upswing

December marked the fourth month in a row in which home sales improved in the Tampa Bay area. The long-awaited rebirth of the housing market? More like buyers feasting on a glut of foreclosure homes. Cheaply priced properties, many of them bank-owned, constitute a disproportionate number of local sales. From December 2007 to December 2008, closings rose 16 percent, from 1,597 to 1,857, according to the Florida Association of Realtors. Median sales prices headed in the opposite direction. Year over year they plunged 27 percent, from $199,800 to $145,700. The December sales picture across Florida was similar: Sales up 27 percent, prices down 27 percent. Buyer activity increased last month in 16 of 20 Florida housing markets. Gainesville, Tallahassee, Pensacola and Punta Gorda were the exceptions.

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