Market Preparing for Season

SARASOTA, Fla. (November 22, 2016) – The inventory of properties for sale in the two-county area is up by 17.5 percent from last year, and also shows an increase of 3.1 percent from last month, reversing the downward trend that started earlier this year. Year over year, single family home inventory in Sarasota increased by 15.7 percent, while Manatee experienced an 11.3 percent increase. Sarasota condo inventory increased by 35.8 percent and Manatee County increased by 11.4 percent.

“We saw more properties listed in October, especially condos, an indication that sellers are preparing for our seasonal sales season,” said 2016 RASM President, Linda Formella.

New pending sales are up from last month in both counties and also compared to last year. Sarasota single family homes saw a 24 percent increase from last month, with condos up 17.2 percent. Manatee county single family homes increased by 6.3 percent, while condos increased by 24.5 percent. Both Manatee and Sarasota county increased by 3.3 percent in new pending condo sales from 2015 and by 1 percent for single family pending sales from last year.

“Not only did we see an increase in the number of contracts written in October compared to last year,” said Formella, “but this is a reversal of the trend for most of this year, when contracts written were lower than the previous year. This should lead to more closed sales in the next sixty days.”

Closed sales continued the downward trend we have seen most of the year.  Combined, sales are down by 6.9 percent from last year. This decrease was also reflected from the previous month, a combined decrease of 10.3 percent for condos and single family homes in the two-county area.

“The increase in pending sales this month, combined with the increase in inventory may support more closed sales in the near future,” adds Formella.

As expected with an increase in inventory and a decline in sales, the months’ supply of inventory saw an increase over the last month and last year in both counties, inching toward a balanced market (6-month supply). A seller’s market remains in both Sarasota and Manatee County, with Sarasota single family homes at a 4.3-month supply and condos at a 5.2-month supply. Manatee County single family homes are at a 4.2-month supply and condos are at a 4-month supply of condos. Median prices continued to increase in both counties as they have all year.  For single family homes, Sarasota experienced a 3.2 percent increase to $236,125 in single family, while Manatee increased by 8 percent to $280,000. Sarasota condo prices also increased from 2015 by 10.8 percent to $205,000, while Manatee increased by 2.5 to $174,750.  

For comprehensive statistics dating back to 2005, visit www.MyRASM.com/statistics