While there is a little more market movement in Sarasota County than Manatee County, the overall story is pretty consistent between both counties. Inventories are up, but not enough to swing us to a buyer’s market. Instead, balance rules the day. That said, at the current rate of change, we may be calling another buyers’ market before the next peak season in Sarasota. Now is a good time to be on either side of a transaction as there is some leverage to be had by both sides.
Closes sales for single-family homes were down 12% YoY in March in Sarasota County. The continued reduction in sales has brought inventory levels up 77% when compared to the same time last year. While that may seem drastic, it was actually needed to bring the market back into balance. It continues to be a reasonable time to be on either side of a transaction in Sarasota. The infographic below from Florida Realtors contains more information from March.
March of 2024 in Manatee ended up looking much like March of 2023, with the exception of overall inventory levels. Inventory levels are up over 50% when compared to the same month in 2023; however, overall inventory is still less than four months of home sales. That is keeping the market slightly tilted towards sellers even though it feels pretty well in balance. The infographic below from Florida Realtors contains more information on our most recent closed month.
Despite some concerns about an impending recession, unemployment rates remain low, which presents a mixed scenario for the housing market. In March, the U.S. saw the addition of over 300,000 jobs, as reported by the Labor Department, reducing the unemployment rate to 3.8% from February’s 3.9%.
For those of us living in Florida, we know that property insurance rate increases have been a real problem. Florida Realtors has put together the infographic below that shows there may be signs of improvement on the way.
