TAMPA - One might think by now - after two years of falling home prices - that sellers would be more realistic about what their homes are worth.

Apparently, though, some are still having trouble accepting reality.

California-based ZipRealty compared the listing prices of homes sold in the third quarter with the actual sales price. Depending on whether the homes sold for near or substantially below what the sellers originally asked, ZIP codes were labeled "hot" or "cold."

Homes in Lutz, Clearwater and southern Hillsborough County generally sold for close to the asking price during the third quarter. But most of Pinellas County didn't do as well. Some neighborhoods saw homes sell for about 81 percent of the asking price.
Gibsonton was the hottest ZIP code in the Tampa area, and Tierra Verde was the coldest in terms of sales price versus asking price.

The data show that in this volatile real estate environment the old real estate truism - location, location, location - still rings true, but for different reasons.

Homes in neighborhoods rocked by foreclosures are in the "hot" areas. Those sellers are getting close to their asking prices. The flip side is that those sellers have seen prices plummet more than sellers in the "cold" ZIPs.

The median sales price of existing homes in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area in September was $137,800, according to the Florida Association of Realtors. That's a 14 percent drop from September 2008, when homes sold for a median price of $160,500.

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