Central Tampa's Ybor City is 12th Best Neighborhood to Buy a Home.

One of the central tampa neighborhoods that the Tampa Tribune has dissed is the 12th BEST neighborhood in the US to buy a home, according to Forbes magazine. Locally this was reported in the St. Petersburg Times today. South Tampa's Hyde Park and Davis islands were the 19th WORST in the nation. This was based on home appreciation. of median home prices from 2003 to 2005 for all the ZIP codes the U.S. Postal Service associates with each city.

Local reaction to the news was highlighted in the St. Pete Times article.

This shows that Central Tampa is the place to invest in Tampa. All you new money /entrepeneurs folks, abandon sluggish south Tampa and come here. Tampa Tribune, we will remember how we were treated.


From the Forbes article
Best
12. Tampa-St. Petersburg, Fla.

ZIP Code: 33605
Neighborhood: Ybor/Watch Hill/Highland Pines
2005 Median Sales Price: $118,000
Total Price Appreciation 2003 to 2005: 93.1%
Appreciation for New Homes: 122.7%
Appreciation for Existing Homes: 74.5%

Pronounced EE-bore, this Cuban-influenced neighborhood was once a center for cigar production. Now the neighborhood is in the middle of a revival, with condos and residential lofts adding to the bungalows.

Worst
19. Tampa-St. Petersburg, Fla.

ZIP Code: 33606
Neighborhood: Davis Islands
2005 Median Sales Price: $300,000
Total Price Appreciation 2003 to 2005: 16.8%
Appreciation for New Homes: 7.4%
Appreciation for Existing Homes: 32%

Appreciation is relative when it comes to Florida's western coast. Davis Islands, created by a developer in the 1920s, has waterfront estates and a yacht club. While prices have risen less here than in other ZIPs, they've still gone up nearly 17% in the past couple of years.