Tampa Bay, Florida has a lot of fans in its Realtors who say that the market continues to be strong.

"There is plenty of inventory available for buyers in the Tampa Bay area," says Realtor Sally Nauman, "for all the surrounding cities from Brandon on the east, Riverview to the south, New Tampa/Lutz in the north and the Bay to the West. Because of the number of homes available, buyers have the ability to pick and choose just what they want. New home construction is also booming, but inventory (or pre-built) homes are not always available. New home construction is selling at a very affordable price."

Says Realtor Tom Scaglione, "The market here in the Tampa Bay Area is still a strong seller's market. Homes are appreciating at a steady and strong pace. In some areas homes are appreciating at 3-5% every two to three months."

Scaglione believes the trend will continue. "After surging unexpectedly in 2003," he says, "the housing market will coast along at a somewhat lower yet still historically strong level next year. NAR Chief Economist David Lereah predicts 2004 will be the second-best year for housing with 5.60 million existing-home sales and 960,000 new-home sales."

"Even with a recent increase in mortgage interest rates," says Realtor Patty Bridges, "the Tampa Bay area housing market remains very strong. Prices continue to rise, especially in waterfront and beach communities. The only softening in the market is being seen in the extreme high end where properties are moving slower. Even in that category prices are not falling. However, they are not on the same upward slope we saw earlier in the year. Helping the strong market here is the fact that prices in the Tampa Bay area are still significantly lower than some other west coast Florida communities such as Naples, Sanibel, Sarasota and the Charlotte Harbor area."