TAMPA -- The Tampa metro area saw 1,158 single-family housing starts in the third quarter, up 4% over the year, and the area's highest total since the third quarter of 2008, according to Metrostudy.
Despite the uptick, however, the market is on pace for 3,830 housing starts by the end of the year, down 5.3% from 2010, Metrostudy says. The research firm's regional director for Tampa, Tony Polito, says starts are expected to be flat relative to the prior year, with “modest percentage and unit gains” expected for 2012.
Metrostudy also tracks unemployment, which stood at 10.8% for the region at the end of the quarter. Polito says Tampa-area unemployment will likely be higher than the national average for “the next few years.”