Home Sales Outpace Supply in January 2020

Click HERE for the December 2019 statistics press release and summary charts.

SARASOTA, Fla. (February 21, 2020) – According to monthly reports from Florida Realtors®, the Sarasota and Manatee housing market experienced another robust month of sales in January. Compared to the same month in 2019 when there was a decrease in sales and an increase in inventory, the opposite can be said for January 2020; an increase in sales and a decrease in inventory. Closed sales in Sarasota and Manatee totaled 1,539 in January 2020, a 32.4 percent increase from the same month last year. In Sarasota, single-family closed sales increased by 22.8 percent to 565 sales and Manatee sales increased by 22.4 percent to 410. Condo sales increased by 57.8 percent to 344 sales in Sarasota and by 47.7 percent to 220 in Manatee.

“We typically see a lot of market activity this time of year and when compared to a slower month the same time last year, 2020 is off to a great start,” said David Clapp, 2020 President of the Realtor® Association of Sarasota and Manatee. “The current volume of sales is outpacing inventory and properties are selling fast, with a decrease in median time to contract as low as 34 days in some markets.”

Cash sales continue to rise with a 46.4 percent increase for Sarasota single-family homes and an 11.8 percent increase for single-family in Manatee. Condo cash sales increased by 51 percent in Sarasota and increased by 11.6 percent in Manatee.

“In most of our markets, there was a higher proportion of cash sales in January compared to December of 2019. Sarasota condos lead the way with 62.8 percent of closed sales being cash sales,” added Clapp. “Cash sales could point to more and more investors participating in the market. This is great for our overall market, but it could be inhibiting new buyers from entering as supply gets picked up by investors.”

Single-family home prices increased by 6.6 percent in Manatee County to $329,500. Sarasota single-family prices increased by 3.3 percent to $296,000. Condo prices increased by 7.7 percent to $210,000 in Manatee and increased by 15.4 percent to $277,000 in Sarasota. New listings, or the number of properties added to the market this month, decreased for single-family homes but increased for condos. Condo new listings increased by 9.2 percent in Manatee and by 4.1 percent in Sarasota. Single-family new listings decreased by 3.7 percent in Manatee and decreased by 13.7 percent in Sarasota.

“The combination of higher sales and lower new listings has resulted in the months’ supply of inventory dropping to approximately 3.5 months for single-family homes, and 4.8 months for condos,” added Clapp.

The months supply of inventory decreased year-over-year. Sarasota condo inventory declined to 4.9-months’ supply and Manatee condos, at 4.7-months, showed no change from last year. Sarasota single-family homes decreased to 3.6-months’ supply and Manatee fell to 3.4-months. Combined inventory in both counties decreased by 18.2 percent from January of 2019. Single-family home inventory decreased by 16.3 percent in Manatee and by 23.8 percent in Sarasota. Condo inventory in Manatee decreased by 2.8 percent while Sarasota decreased by 18.9 percent.

Pending sales increased in both markets in both counties, indicating more closed sales in the future. With the two counties combined, single-family pending sales increased by 25.4 percent and condo pending sales increased 6.2 percent.

Monthly reports are provided by Florida REALTORS® with data compiled from Stellar MLS. For comprehensive statistics dating back to 2005, visit www.MyRASM.com/statistics.