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Mortgage rates have absolutely exploded over the last year in the Tampa area.
According to a recently released March Market Report from online real estate giant Zillow, Tampa witnessed the highest year-over-year spike in mortgage rates in the nation.
The study reported that in Tampa, the typical home is worth $352,962, up 33.1% from last year. It also showed that assuming a 30-year mortgage with a 20% down payment, the monthly payment on a typical home is now $1,376—23.1% higher than the start of the year and 52.3% higher than a year ago.
The study also stated that Tampa's housing inventory actually grew by 10.2% from February, but still remains 20.6% lower than a year ago.
Tampa's explosive mortgage rate spike barely topped Las Vegas' where homebuyers saw a 51.5% monthly payment rate increase, and Phoenix with a 48.9% rate.
In neighboring Orlando, the numbers told a similar tale. The typical home cost is currently $364,611, 29.1% higher than last year. Under the same mortgage conditions, the monthly payment of a typical home is $1,422, 47.7% more than a year ago.
A year ago nationwide, mortgage rates were below 3% and just in March of this year, it rose to 4.54% Also in March, 11.6% more homes were available than in February, the largest one-month jump in Zillow’s records. However, inventory is still 22.5% lower than it was a year ago.
“Higher mortgage rates were anticipated this year, but the speed of their rise has been breathtaking,” said Jeff Tucker, Zillow senior economist. “Record low mortgage rates had been an affordability lifeline during the pandemic, keeping monthly payments in check even while prices climbed quickly.”
In Florida, even though demand is always increasing, the skyrocketing of prices and diminishing affordability has left 1.6 million vacant homes.
Tampa has been on the same trend for the past few months, with a Realtor.com study showing that the city’s median home listing prices grew by 32% in March—ranking third in the whole country.
It is uncertain as to when the deterrence that Tucker talks about will come, especially in the Bay area as a recent study from showed that Tampa is now the third most popular city in the country people are migrating to.
