Real Estate Slowdown? Not so in Ybor City

By Kevin Stuteville
Costantino & Company

I really don’t understand all of this talk of a bubble lately. Ybor has realized substantial sales growth in 2006 to date. MLS data for the historic district shows that residential sales are up over 34% in the historic district over the same period last year.

Part of the reason Ybor City is bucking statewide and national trends is that the district is undergoing substantial capital improvements that are just becoming apparent to the general public. Condominium projects are still breaking ground and a major interstate project is moving towards completion. The dynamic of the area is changing in a real way.

Another factor that is influencing growth is an underlying shift in people’s perceptions about Ybor City. I find myself defending my neighborhood less and less, we still have a ways to go but I think people are realizing that something is happening here.

Last night I decided to look into crime statistics provided by the Tampa Police Department. After extrapolating data from our 4 grids (107, 108, 127, and 128) I determined that those perceptions are changing for good reason, crime data for the first half of 2006 shows a 36% decrease in crime versus the same period of 2005. I was absolutely shocked. I knew that the neighborhood felt different but I didn’t realize how drastic the numbers would actually be. I pulled this information from our Crime Grids 107, 108, 127, and 128, which covers the entire geographic region of Ybor and even some additional areas to the north.

Another reason why we aren’t slowing down is the availability of homes in “move-in” condition priced under $200,000. I even have a few for around $150,000, which is generally considered to be “affordable” when compared to many of Tampa’s other historic districts. Many un-renovated homes priced at or around $100,000 still make sense for investors. The numbers just work, homes here actually “cash-flow”, a concept that has eluded many homeowners and investors since the real estate boom took hold.

I live and work in Ybor City because there is something special about this little neighborhood; the great concentration of restaurants, entertainment and culture is what makes this area so special.

BRICK ALLEYS IN YBOR CITY!!!

Council Wants To Explore Brick Alleys In Ybor City

Kevin Stuteville
Costantino & Company Real Estate Services
2216 E 4th Avenue
Ybor City, Fl 33605
813-842-4217

http://www.yborhomes.com

TAMPA - The Tampa City Council wants more brick alleys in Ybor City's historical district, but where to find the money?

An alley between Columbus Drive and 15th Avenue, from 12th to 13th streets, would cost about $230,000 and take 27,000 bricks, if bid to a contractor.

Transportation Director Roy LaMotte used that example recently to highlight the cost of bricking two dirt alleys a year in Ybor. Doing the work in-house would cut the cost to about $100,000.

Councilman John Dingfelder said the city doesn't have the staff or money to brick alleys.
The city should explore special tax revenue, not its transportation dollars, for funding, especially in historical districts such as Ybor, said Councilwoman Mary Alvarez. Tapping into the private sector for alley preservation should be explored, Councilwoman Linda Saul-Sena said. The council approved her motion requesting city attorneys review codes and recommend regulations to encourage restoration.

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Ybor City Real Estate Sales Still Booming

County sales dip, but central Tampa surges

South Tampa is a hodgepodge. Volume in New Tampa and Lithia slumps. Could a buyers' market be brewing?

By RICK GERSHMAN and BILL COATS
Published June 2, 2006

Ybor Property For Sale

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Home sales declined 17 percent across Hillsborough County in the first quarter of 2006 compared to last year, but some central and South Tampa areas bucked the trend.

Sales were especially strong in central Tampa, particularly the Ybor City neighborhoods and eastern Seminole Heights, according to sales figures from the county property appraiser. Grouped together, the areas northeast of downtown had sales gains of 53 percent.

East Tampa areas such as Belmont Heights and Jackson Heights showed 43 percent gains, and western Seminole Heights had 39 percent gains.

News was more mixed in South Tampa areas. Generally east of Dale Mabry, sales were up 13 percent. And in the neighborhoods south of Gandy Boulevard, sales were up almost 11 percent.

But in South Tampa west of Dale Mabry, home sales dropped more than 20 percent.

The numbers for such large areas can be somewhat illusory, Realtor Sue Paskert said, because buying trends can vary wildly from street to street within a neighborhood.

On the whole, though, "things are finally leveling out," said Paskert, who specializes in South Tampa.

Still, South Tampa remains a strong market, she said. The biggest problem is that many homes are overpriced. Homes aren't depreciating, but there's not the rapid rate of appreciation sellers began to take for granted.

"We could be moving into a buyers' market," she said. "Many sellers are living in a market of six to 12 months ago, and they're not being realistic about prices."

Her sentiments were echoed by Umesh Shah, who owns a local franchise of HomeVestors. "A lot of sellers are still in denial about the value of their house."

Paskert said she's having to reduce the price of houses she listed, "which I hate to do - I like to get it right the first time. But the prices had gotten inflated."

But this cooling-off period is normal, she said, and she's generally optimistic about the future.

Shah's company buys "ugly houses'' at less than market value, fixes them up and sells them for a profit. In places like Tampa Heights, the strategy is still working well.

Two months ago, he paid $128,000 for a fixer-upper. He expected to spruce it up and make some money from it. Instead, he listed it immediately, thinking, why not?

A day later, he had a contract for $155,000 from an investor who lived in the neighborhood. "I was really surprised,'' he said. "I was expecting a month or two.''

Not everyone is having such good fortune. In middle-class suburbs like New Tampa, the torrid pace of home sales during the past two years has hit the brakes. In New Tampa, sales of existing homes dropped 48 percent in the first three months of this year compared to last year.

"People with dollar signs in their eyeballs came into the market,'' said longtime Tampa Realtor Betty Kennedy. "They won't be around long.''

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Ybor City on a Residential Roll

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On a residential roll: yes, Ybor City

During a trolley tour of 13 homes and condos Saturday, you might just find yourself thinking, "Hey, I could live here.''

By ALEXANDRA ZAYASPublished April 21, 2006
[Times photo: Daniel Wallace]

The Villas at Fifth Avenue will be one of the trolley stops on Ybor City's first home tour Saturday. The aim? To show people that Ybor is more than Seventh Avenue.
YBOR CITY
Their friends called them crazy when Matthew and Alicia Smith left a home in Boca Raton to raise their toddler, Allison, in Ybor City five years ago.
These days, Alicia Smith can't picture a life outside the tiny but growing eclectic neighborhood two blocks off the nightlife strip. And from one visit to their home on Fifth Avenue, it's clear. They fit right in.
Cigar boxes line the walls of their renovated 1902 house. Booty beads spill over a basket in the den. Allison, now 7, practices her Italian at the nearby Italian Club.
The walls are so well insulated, Smith said, that honking horns and blaring bass beats don't bother them on Friday and Saturday nights, though it does get loud for Gasparilla and Guavaween.
"But we just join in the mayhem," she said.
The Smiths are pioneers in Ybor City's residential renaissance. For the past few years, residents have trickled in to the mostly commercial area. With about a dozen residential developments in the works, Ybor City is becoming Tampa's oldest new neighborhood.
Owners of 13 homes and condos along Fifth Avenue from 16th Street to 20th Street will open their doors for Ybor's first home tour, on Saturday. Rubber-tire trolleys will take visitors from house to house. Real estate agents, bank lenders and home renovators will provide information to potential residents in the Ybor City State Museum courtyard.
To contrast the residential renewal, the museum will open its "Urban Renewal in Ybor City" exhibit, a look at the controversial revitalization efforts of the 1960s and '70s.
Often referred to as "Urban Removal," the federally funded project began in 1965 as a solution to Ybor's residential decline in which families migrated to the suburbs after World War II. Entire blocks of homes were wiped out to make way for commerce and roads, museum spokesman Manny Leto said.
"The federal government came in and knocked everything down, and they were relying on the private sector to come in and build it back up and invest in the community," Leto said. "That never really materialized."
Until now. This is an important time for Ybor, Leto said. That's why he is organizing Saturday's tour and museum event, to celebrate Ybor City's history along with its future.
"We want to basically show people that Ybor is more than just one street, Seventh Avenue," Leto said. "There's a lot going on here."

Contact Kevin Stuteville for additional information on real estate located in the Ybor City National Historic Landmark District

Kevin Stuteville
Costantino & Company Real Estate Services
2216 E 4th Avenue Ybor City Florida 33605
ph. 813-842-4217
fx. 813-247-3015
e-mail kevinstuteville@verizon.net
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