Only half as many homes were sold in Pasco County in the first six months of this year compared with the same period last year, figures released Tuesday by the county's property appraiser show.

For the first time in five years, the county's median home sale price inched down from $247,125 last year to $246,700 currently.

It's not because it's summer.

This year marks a dramatic decline in growth. It gives a warning for next year's county tax rolls, which this year grew 29 percent.

But market watchers also believe the decline is a market correction that belies healthier job and demographic trends.

"Supply has caught up with demand," property appraiser Mike Wells said. "When that happens, sellers have to become realistic, and what they're asking for their product. The investor has moved on. ... I do think that builders are probably competing with investors that they sold houses to a year ago."

Between January and June, 4,345 single-family homes were sold in Pasco, compared with 8,516 in the same period in 2005.

The big drop dates back to January, when 670 homes were sold compared with 1,267 in December. Sales clawed back up in March through May, but never breached the four-digit barrier in any month this year.

Last year, every month except January saw sales numbers in the four digits.

"It used to be that things slowed down in summer," said Dewey Mitchell, owner of Prudential Tropical Realty in Trinity. "But in the last 10 years or so, things didn't slow down even in summer. But now ... you can feel it, and it's not because it's summer."

Half the single-family homes offered in Pasco are currently selling below $246,700, a slight dip from $247,125 in 2005, county figures show.

For the past five years, the county has seen the indicator rocket only upward from $131,079 in 2001. The market peaked between 2004 and 2005, when the median price jumped from $158,270 to $247,125.

As prices soften, market watchers say investors are getting burned off. That is an educated guess because the number of investor homes is difficult to quantify.

About a third of Pasco homes are listed as nonprimary residences, Wells said. That number has grown from 26 percent in 2001 to 30 percent currently.

It could suggest that investors are still a significant portion of the market, but, as an indicator of investor numbers, nonprimary residences are only an approximation. Some homes are not listed as primary homes simply because of a lag in paperwork, or because people buy them as second homes.

"These numbers are for single-family homes both old and new, whereas investors are typically for new houses," Wells said. "The 4 percent point spread you see is probably reasonable. If I can produce the spread for just new homes - which I can't - that spread would be higher."

This year's dramatic fall in home sales accounts for all homes on the market.

For the smaller subset of new homes, the first quarter still saw steady growth until a dip in May brought year-to-date figures into negative territory, compared with the same period last year.

But central Pasco still ranks as a major production area for new homes.

Meadow Pointe, Ballantrae and Wilderness Lake Preserve still rank among the top 10 communities for "housing starts" in the Tampa Bay area, according to a report released Wednesday by the Metrostudy group in Tampa.

Housing starts indicate actual construction, but they don't count homes that later have their permits pulled, Metrostudy's Tony Polito said.

Pasco's annual figure for housing starts through May still shows 14 percent growth, but this belies a 6 percent drop in the second quarter this year, Polito said.

Job growth in the region and demographic changes should still temper any pessimism about the market.

The Tampa Bay area ranked third in accounting for Florida's job growth, trailing only the South Florida and Orlando markets. The Tampa market added 31,200 new jobs in the last year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

"Unlike places like Chicago, the number of people turning 25 and 55 here increases every year," Polito said. "These are potential home buyers."

Interest rates are still on the rise, but they shouldn't be seen as the culprit behind the slowdown, industry experts say.

"Long-term mortgage interest rates ... should remain below 7 percent through the balance of 2006," said Mike Inselmann, Metrostudy's president, in Wednesday's report. "This mortgage rate outlook seems quite benign in historical terms, and prior housing cycles have done quite well with rates much higher than they are now."

"If they stay in single digits, it's still a bargain," Wells said.

With national growth figures pointing to general economic health, the word is still that the housing trend is more correction than collapse.

"I think it's business as usual," Wells said. "Hundreds of houses are being sold, and still people are buying. It's just that builders can't be as demanding now. It's good for the consumer, but we're not going to have 29 percent increase in the tax rolls next year. There will still be an increase, but not as big."

Chuin-Wei Yap covers growth and development in Pasco County. He can be reached at (813)909-4613 or cyap@sptimes.com.