Of the 22 metropolitan residential real estate markets in Florida, the Tampa Bay metro market, also known as the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metropolitan real estate market, is the 12th most affordable residential real estate market in Florida as of the third quarter of 2015, based on the Housing Opportunity Index (HOI), which is computed quarterly by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and Wells Fargo.
The HOI for a metro area is the share of homes for sale that are affordable to families earning the area’s median income, based on standard mortgage evaluation criteria. For income, NAHB uses the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s annual median family income estimates for metropolitan areas.
Across the country, among all the 223 metropolitan areas, the Tampa Bay metro area is the 119th most affordable residential estate market.
Here are the Housing Opportunity Indexes for all the 23 metropolitan areas in Florida, arranged from the most affordable to the least affordable:
| FL RANK | US RANK | METRO | HOI | MEDIAN FAMILY | MEDIAN SALES |
| AREA | 2015 QTR3 | INCOME | PRICE | ||
| 1 | 46 | Gainesville | 82.5 | 63,800 | 145,000 |
| 2 | 47 | Ocala | 82.3 | $47,300 | $105,000 |
| 3 | 50 | Tallahassee | 81.9 | 65,100 | 148,000 |
| 4 | 56 | Pensacola-Ferry Pass | |||
| -Brent | 80.9 | 63,300 | 147,000 | ||
| 5 | 68 | Lakeland-Winter Haven | 79.3 | 50,300 | 134,000 |
| 6 | 73 | Panama City-Lynn Haven | |||
| -Panama City Beach | 78.7 | 57,900 | 160,000 | ||
| 7 | 81 | Palm Bay-Melbourne | |||
| -Titusville | 77.6 | 61,900 | 146,000 | ||
| 8 | 97 | Punta Gorda | 75.4 | 58,400 | 148,000 |
| 9 | 99 | Deltona-Daytona Beach | |||
| -Ormond Beach | 74.8 | 51,800 | 133,000 | ||
| 10 | 110 | Jacksonville | 73.9 | 63,300 | 167,000 |
| 11 | 119 | Tampa-St. Petersburg | |||
| Clearwater | 71.7 | 59,000 | 151,000 | ||
| 12 | 120 | Crestview-Fort Walton | |||
| Beach-Destin | 71.6 | 67,500 | 180,000 | ||
| 13 | 124 | Sebastian-Vero Beach | 70.5 | 59,000 | 169,000 |
| 14 | 133 | Orlando-Kissimmee | |||
| -Sanford | 68.4 | 58,300 | 179,000 | ||
| 15 | 135 | Port St. Lucie | 68.2 | 53,300 | 160,000 |
| 16 | 151 | Cape Coral-Fort Myers | 65.3 | 57,600 | 180,000 |
| 17 | 152 | Palm Coast | 65.2 | 49,200 | 169,000 |
| 18 | 160 | North Port-Bradenton | |||
| -Sarasota | 61.8 | 62,300 | 212,000 | ||
| 19 | 163 | Fort Lauderdale-Pompano | |||
| Beach-Deerfield Beach | 61.4 | 63,000 | 190,000 | ||
| 20 | 166 | West Palm Beach | |||
| -Boca Raton-Boynton Beach | 60.8 | 66,000 | 210,000 | ||
| 21 | 193 | Naples-Marco Island | 49.6 | 66,500 | 295,000 |
| 22 | 202 | Miami-Miami Beach | |||
| -Kendall | 45.2 | 50,100 | 222,000 |
The 10 Most Affordable Metro Areas in the US, based on third quarter data are the following:
| Rank | Metro Area | HOI | Median Family Income | Median Sales Price |
| 1 | Glens Falls, New York | 92.6 | 65,400 | $130,000 |
| 2 | Sandusky, Ohio | 92.2 | 69,600 | 120,000 |
| 3 | Syracuse, New York | 91.7 | 68,500 | 102,000 |
| 4 | Kokomo, Indiana | 91.4 | 55,200 | 114,000 |
| 5 | Springfield, Ohio | 91.2 | 53,800 | 93,000 |
| 6 | Rockford, Illinois | 90.9 | 63,100 | 105,000 |
| 7 | Lima, Ohio | 90.8 | 54,200 | 104,000 |
| 8 | Monroe, Michigan | 90.2 | 65,000 | 144,000 |
| 9 | Elizabethtown, Kentucky | 90.0 | 60,100 | 133,000 |
| 10 | Binghamton, New York | 89.9 | 66,400 | 115,000 |
The 10 Most Expensive Metropolitan Areas in the country, based on third quarter data are the following:
| Rank | Metro Area | HOI | Median Family Income | Median Sales Price |
| 1 | San Francisco-San Mateo- | |||
| Redwood City, California | 10.5 | 103,400 | 985,000 | |
| 2 | Los Angeles-Long Beach- | |||
| Glendale, California | 14.7 | 63,200 | 500,000 | |
| 3 | Santa Ana-Anaheim- | |||
| Irvine, California | 16.2 | 85,900 | 615,000 | |
| 4 | Santa Cruz-Watsonville | |||
| California | 16.5 | 87,000 | 650,000 | |
| 5 | Salinas, California | 17.5 | 65,000 | 443,000 |
| 6 | San Jose-Sunnyvale- | |||
| Santa Clara, California | 17.9 | 106,300 | 795,000 | |
| 7 | Napa, California | 19.0 | 84,200 | 581,000 |
| 8 | Santa Rosa-Petaluma | |||
| California | 20.2 | 73,600 | 490,000 | |
| 9 | New York-White Plains- | |||
| Wayne, New Jersey | 20.5 | 67,400 | 515,000 | |
| 10 | San Diego-Carlsbad- | |||
| San Marcos, California | 23.3 | 73,000 | 459,000 |
Median Sales Prices of Existing Single-Family Homes in the Third Quarter of 2015
Based on the median sales prices of single-family homes in the third quarter of 2015, as compiled by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the Tampa Bay metro area is the 85th most affordable among 180 metropolitan markets across the country. The median sales price of existing single-family homes in the Tampa Bay area in the third quarter was $175,000, an increase of 12.2% from the second quarter, and an increase of 20.7% from the same quarter in 2014.
The median sales price for condos sold in the Tampa Bay area in the third quarter was $118,800, a drop of 1% from the previous quarter, and an increase of 11% from the same quarter in 2014.