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Suncoast Pasco News

Trinity Area Housing Has Held Value, Appraiser Says

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By Carl  Orth | The Suncoast News

Published: June 11, 2008

TRINITY - While the housing market is still trying to pull out of a steep nosedive, the value of houses in this portion of southwestern Pasco County has weathered the housing crisis better than many areas.

"The higher priced homes have held their values better," Pasco Property Appraiser Mike Wells said. "But across the board, everything has gone done some."

The county has shed about $3 billion worth of assessed value on all properties this year, Wells has estimated in recent weeks.

This has been the "most difficult time" he has seen in the 12 years he has served as property appraiser, Wells said.

And values likely will fall some more in 2009, before a recovery starts in 2010, Wells is projecting.

That's when Medical Center of Trinity is scheduled to open. Some are residents hope the hospital will boost the area out of economic doldrums. The $218 million facility with 236 private-room beds will replace Community Hospital of New Port Richey.

"I don't think it matters what income level it is," Commissioner Ann Hildebrand commented. All home values have been impacted, she said.

Hildebrand, whose district includes the Trinity area, sympathizes with residents trying to make ends meet.

"I've heard that people are upside down," Hildebrand said of area residents.

The term upside down, or negative equity, refers to the situation when the mortgage debt on a house is greater that the house's market value.

These upside down owners were tempted to refinance mortgages or take out home equity loans when interest rates were low and were caught in the collapse of housing values, Hildebrand said. Things in the commercial property market have been as bad, according to Hildebrand.

"Commercial hasn't taken as big a hit, that's what I've been hearing," she said.

"It's holding up better," John Grey, co-owner of Coldwell Banker Commercial F.I. Grey & Son, said of the value of commercial property.

Grey had been involved in the negotiations for the site for Medical Center of Trinity on S.R. 54 near Little Road. The hospital should be a boon to the area.

Still, "commercial development is driven by rooftops in an area," Grey observed.

The inventory of homes remains relatively high because tighter credit restricts the number of people buying.

"The money is cheap, but you still have to qualify to borrow it," Grey said.

Joe Cash, a builder and developer in West Pasco, believes "commercial is holding its head up."

"People haven't zipped up their pocketbooks completely," Cash said.

Home prices seem to be stabilizing, in Cash's view, since interest rates have dropped about as low as they will go.

"There's a bright side to everything," Grey said about home values. "There's probably more good buys out there than the last 5 or 10 years."

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