Tag: Sarasota

In February, Sarasota County saw more than double the number of new listings compared to closed home sales. Inventory levels continue to grow as we approach the tail end of our busy season. While pending sales exceeded closed sales in February, they were not enough to curb the expected increase in inventory. I anticipate that Sarasota County will experience a buyer’s market for the next few months. However, just because buyers have more leverage doesn’t mean they have all the control. Sellers should focus on positioning their homes strategically in the market to achieve the best results. The infographic below from Florida Realtors offers more detailed information.

Unlike Manatee County, Sarasota County’s market clearly favors buyers at this point. Unless we see a major uptick in sales over the next three months, there will be a significant amount of inventory left on the market heading into our slower season this summer. Cash buyers are still out there in a big way, so I am not sure pricing leverage is quite as high for typical buyers as they would like. That said, if you are interested in a property in Sarasota County, we have significantly worse times to buy. The infographic from Florida Realtors below contains more information.

November was a very slow month in home sales in Sarasota County when compared to last year and the activity in neighboring Manatee County. It looks like the lower end of the price points on the market weren’t as active in Sarasota County as they were in Manatee. However, there were still a significant number of cash buyers in Sarasota. We will likely have to wait until January activity to see if the early part to our busy season was an aberration. I would be much more inclined to believe we are in for a slower winter if Manatee didn’t come in so strong in November. The graphic below from Florida Realtors highlights more relevant market information.

Even with the weather challenges this fall, Sarasota County’s single-family home sales have been resilient. We haven’t seen the drop off in home sales like we have in Manatee. However, the market has been stronger in the mid to lower-tier price points than the higher-tier listings. Inventory remains in a good place for our rapidly approaching busy season. With the current statistics, it looks like we are in for a balanced market this winter. The infographic below from Florida Realtors contains more from October.