Buying in Tampa Bay: the full guide

Who buys here

Tampa Bay accounts for 7% of the homes bought by foreign buyers in Florida. Canadians are the largest group by far, and Europeans a larger share than in most of the state. It is also the metro area where the most foreign owners are selling, which gives a buyer more resale stock to choose from than the headline numbers suggest.

For financing, the split is the usual one. Relocating on a visa with a US salary, you are a resident borrower and can use standard loans. Buying a winter home while you live in Europe, you need a foreign national loan. See how those work.

Holiday letting is the exception here, not the rule

Several cities in the area had restrictions on short stays before Florida stopped local governments from introducing new ones in 2011, and they have kept them.

If your plan includes weekly holiday lets, most residential streets in St. Petersburg and Clearwater are ruled out. Monthly winter lets to seasonal visitors are the common model, and they are also easier to square with a second-home mortgage.

Water, wind and what they do to the numbers

The peninsula's exposure showed in 2024, when two hurricanes struck within weeks. For a buyer, three practical consequences follow.

• Flood insurance. Not part of home insurance, and required by federally backed lenders in high-risk zones. Citizens policyholders with wind cover must carry it too.
• The 50% rule. Under the federal flood programme's rules, a building in a flood hazard area that is damaged or improved by half or more of its market value has to be brought into line with current flood standards. An older, low-lying house can therefore be far more expensive to repair or renovate than it looks.
• Availability of cover. Private insurers are selective near the water. The hurricane deductible, offered at up to 10% of the insured value, is yours to carry.

None of this argues against buying. It argues for choosing the specific house with an inspector and an insurance broker involved before the contract becomes binding.

Costs of owning

Average effective property tax is 0.84% of value in Hillsborough, 0.74% in Pinellas and 0.82% in Pasco. A new owner without homestead status is assessed at the purchase price, so expect more than the county average. Short stays are taxed at 13% in Pinellas and 12% in Pasco. Rental income earned by a non-resident owner is taxed by the United States at 30% of the gross amount unless you elect to be taxed on net income.

Getting there

Tampa International had nonstop flights in summer 2026 to London Gatwick and Heathrow, Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Zurich. For a second-home owner from the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland or the UK, that is a door-to-door journey without a connection, which is rarer in Florida than one might think.

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