TAMPA, Fla. — In a recent study by Florida Atlantic University of the national housing market, nine Florida cities ranked amongst the top 100 when it comes to overpricing.

Two of them are in the top 20, and they are both in the Tampa Bay area.

Experts estimate Tampa alone will grow another half million people in the next decade, and with that comes a shortage of housing.

That may contribute to why the city ranks number 15 on the list.

We know housing costs have gone up, and if we take a closer look, we learn people in Tampa are paying nearly 38 percent more for homes.

The same goes for Lakeland, which ranks number 16 on the list. 

This seems high, but real estate economist Ken Johnson says it’s far from the worst we’ve seen in this area, so there’s no need to panic. 

“This is a pretty large number but when you compare it to the height of the last housing cycle, which was about 15 years ago, that number came in at 68 percent. So while prices are very high, and separate from where they should be on past housing trends, they are nowhere near as high or relatively as high as they were 15 years ago,” said Johnson. 

Johnson says the information in the study is in no way cause for concern of a foreclosure crisis, but he says we could see a slow down in prices.

Last time, for example, he says we saw a 25 percent drop. 

Johnson says we may not see a drop this time, but appreciation may level off for some years instead.