TAMPA - While homes are piling up on the market and sellers have cut thousands off their asking prices, Bay area sales prices have outpaced the nation.

For the second quarter in a row, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight shows that Tampa Bay homes have seen price appreciation greater than the national average. The office reports an increase of 23 percent in the second quarter, compared with the same quarter last year, but prices went up by just 3 percent since the first quarter of this year, setting the city up for a much lower yearly appreciation rate.

"There's uncertainty for both buyers and sellers," said Andrew Leventis, an economist who worked on the report. "We're in a funny period. Folks don't know where prices are going."

Nine Florida metro areas made the study's list of the nation's top 20 with the highest price appreciation of existing homes. Tampa ranked 13 on the list. Other Florida metro areas in the top 20 were: Naples-Marco Island, Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Lakeland, Orlando-Kissimmee, Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall and Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach - all of which ranked higher than the Tampa area. Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach and Sarasota-Bradenton-Venice ranked 19 and 20.

Statewide, sales prices rose during the second quarter by 21 percent compared with the same three months last year. Quarter over quarter, the state saw a 3 percent increase. Florida ranked second in price appreciation, just behind Arizona.

Florida fared much better than the nation as a whole. Average home prices nationwide rose by 1 percent quarter over quarter and nearly 3 percent when compared with the same quarter in 2005. That's the biggest decline in price growth since the federal office started tracking prices in 1975.

The federal office calculates appreciation quarterly based on loan information from the nation's big lenders, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The office compares the sales price with what the home previously sold for to determine the percentage of appreciation.

The Sunshine State's good rankings are of little comfort to some Bay area home sellers who haven't been able to sell their houses. There are more than 30,000 sellers with homes sitting on the market in Tampa Bay, according to the Greater Tampa Association of Realtors. That's nearly four times the amount on the market this time last year.

Daniel Underhill has tried for seven months to sell his Valrico home.

He's hosted four open houses, but no one showed. He's offered virtual tours. He's changed brokers and made upgrades to the house. Then he pitched the biggest incentive of all: he dropped the price nearly $60,000 to $244,828.

Still, he's had just two offers, and both those buyers dropped out after factoring in the cost of insurance, property taxes and homeowner's association fees.

"I never thought it would take this long to sell my house," Underhill said. "But there are 70 homes on the market in my neighborhood, and they're not selling either."

Reporter Shannon Behnken can be reached at (813) 259-7804.