The Tampa Bay real estate market has been the most robust in the first five months of 2013 in Central Florida. A total of 8,364 homes for sale in Tampa Bay were sold over the period from January to May 2013, based on data from My Florida Regional MLS. These homes transferred nearly $1.6 billion from buyers to sellers, with an average sale price of $187,686.
| Rank County | Total Home Sales |
| in Million Dollars | |
| Over a Billion in Sales | |
| 1. Hillsborough | $1,566.319 |
| 2. Orange | $1,519.818 |
| 3. Pinellas | $1,463.359 |
| 4. Sarasota | $1,335.171 |
| Between $400 Million and $900 Million in Sales | |
| 5. Manatee | $813.727 |
| 6. Seminole | $521.299 |
| 7. Pasco | $496.941 |
| 8. Polk | $452.418 |
| Less than $400 Million in Sales | |
| 9. Osceola | $374.846 |
| 10. Brevard | $358.290 |
| 11. Charlotte | $357.904 |
| 12. Lake | $342.615 |
| 13. Volusia | $212.896 |
| 14. Lee | $65.793 |
| 15. Sumter | $63.936 |
| 16. Marion | $47.661 |
| 17. DeSoto | $14.177 |
Hillsborough County or the Tampa Bay region accounted for 15.65% of the $10 billion home sales over the five-month period. Only four of the 17-country MLS region — Hillsborough, Orange, Pinellas and Sarasota — surpassed the billion-dollar sales. These four counties altogether made a total sales of $5,884,667,673, nearly 6 billion dollars, and accounted for 58.8% of the total sales of the Central Florida region.
Of the 55,546 Central Florida homes sold over the January-to-May period, Tampa Bay homes accounted for 15.1%, Pinellas homes accounted for 14.21%, Orange homes accounted for 13.8%, Sarasota homes accounted for 9.1%, and Pasco homes accounted for 7.27%.
| Rank County | No. of Homes Sold |
| 1. Hillsborough | 8,364 |
| 2. Pinellas | 7,891 |
| 3. Orange | 7,661 |
| 4. Sarasota | 5,057 |
| 5. Pasco | 4,037 |
| 6. Polk | 3,863 |
| 7. Manatee | 3,604 |
| 8. Seminole | 2,906 |
| 9. Osceola | 2,521 |
| 10. Lake | 2,394 |
| 11. Charlotte | 2,252 |
| 12. Brevard | 2,220 |
| 13. Volusia | 1,797 |
| 14. Sumter | 389 |
| 15. Marion | 332 |
| 16. Lee | 132 |
| 17. DeSoto | 126 |
Reasons Why Tampa Bay Is the Most Popular Among Homebuyers
1. Tampa Bay is fast becoming the center of health-related industries in Florida.
Biotechnology companies have been expanding or setting up shop in the Tampa Bay region partly because of the successful research projects of the University of South Florida.
2. MacDill Air Force Base is seen as a powerful factor in the growth of the retiree community in Tampa Bay.
According to the Tampa Economic , the economic impact of MacDill on Greater Tampa Bay in the year 2010 reached $4.98 billion.
3. Tampa Bay is in the center of Central Florida’s leisure universe, with easy access to Orlando’s theme parks, Gulf of Mexico’s waters and beaches, historic cities down south or up north. These are in addition to Tampa Bay’s own world-famous attractions such as Busch Gardens and Ybor City and annual events such as the Gasparilla Pirate Fest.
4. Homes for sale in Tampa Bay are not as expensive as in other regions in Central Florida.
Over the January to May period, the average price for Tampa Bay homes sold was $192,912, much lower than the average sale price in Lee during the same period, which was $525,730; in Sarasota, which was $277,809; in Manatee which was $242,904; in Orange, which was $$199,887; and in Pinellas, which was $195,256.