The average selling price of Hillsborough homes is down 9% according to The Tampa Association of Realtors. Builders are seeing even a worse slump with a 25% downward spiral in the past four months.

According to Tampabay.com  this downward slide may be pinpointed in Hillsborough County but it’s really being felt through the entire Tampa Bay area.

The average selling price in the Tampa Bay area is $210,000 so although that might be down 9% in the last four months it’s actually up 1% from 2007’s numbers.

Other counties in the Tampa Bay area are seeing even steeper slides ranging in the 15% range. So the big question is where’s the bottom in the Tampa Bay real estate market? And is there any hope for sellers?

Deborah Farmer the president of the Greater Tampa Association of Realtors says Tampa is already on the path to recovery. It seems a lot of the “old listings” have come off the market so there’s some new “fresh” listings.

The economy in the Tampa Bay area is actually much better than many other parts of Florida. There’s been 25,000 new jobs created. There’s been a steady flow of new blood into the area and many believe the bottom has been reached.

So what’s the projection for the rest of this year?

Well sellers are going to have to be willing to come down in price, buyers are going to have to come to the conclusion that the bottom has arrived, and mortgage lenders are going to have to become a little more flexible then they’ve been for the past couple years.

If you’ve been thinking of buying in the Tampa Bay area, now just might be the time to do it!