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2011 Market Update - Sarasota Real Estate

Posted by John Allen on Monday, August 29th, 2011 at 8:41am.

Real estate in Sarasota, Florida has continued to sell at a brisk pace in 2011. The Sarasota Association of Realtors® recently issued its August a press release reporting 599 properties sold in July 2011, a 14.3 percent increase from the previous year. In the July 2010 Sarasota real estate market, there were 525 property sales.

Single family home closings totaled 445 and 154 condos sold in July of this year. Four months in 2011, sales have hit the 700 level or above. July marked the fourth month in the previous 12 with sales exceeding 700 units. June sales reached 728 and May sales were the highest at 796 during Sarasota’s busiest selling season. Sales in July, of course, cooled as summer arrived. The Federal homebuyer tax credit which was a selling factor also expired during this time.

Good News for Sarasota Real Estate Sellers in July 2011

Excerpt from the SAR Press Release:

The total inventory of available properties dropped again to the lowest level in more than a decade. There were 2,829 single family homes and 1,656 condos on the market, for a total of 4,485 available properties. This is more than a 7 percent drop from the June 2011 total of 4,830, and a 25 percent drop from the July 2010 figure of 6,054. The decreased inventory could spur stronger competition for homes and condos, and subsequent price appreciation.
The median price of a single family home in July was $169,900, just slightly lower than the June figure of $175,000. The July 2010 figure stood at $155,000, so the median price was up almost 10 percent from last year at this time. The condo median price slipped to $145,000 from $185,000 in June, but was 14 percent higher than last July's median of $127,000.
The months of inventory rose to 6.4 months for single family homes, from last month's figure of 5.9 months. For condos, the months of inventory also rose to 10.7 months from June's figure of 8.2 months. Both figures remain far below the highs of 25.3 months for single family (in early 2009) and 41.7 months for condos (in late 2008). This statistic represents the time it would take to sell the existing inventory at the current month's rate of sales. The 6 month level is traditionally a point which represents equilibrium in the market between buyers and sellers.

Pending sales in July 2011 increased from 754 in June to 799. Pending sales in July 2010 were headed downward in the summer which indicated lower total sales in the fall period.

SAR President Michael Bruno point out that “while we did see the market seasonally moderate in July from the hot selling pace we’ve experienced in the first half of 2011, these numbers still reflect strength in the market. There hasn’t been an alarming drop in sales, and the higher number of pending sales signals a healthy fall market. The inventory of available properties remains at a low for the past decade, and this historically means we should experience upward pressure on prices. The percentage of distressed property sales has remained stable, which is another positive factor.”

Short sales and foreclosure sales remained at “38 percent of the July 2011 sales figures. In February 2011 distressed sales totaled 47 percent of total sales and in November 2010, distressed sales totaled 51 percent of total sales.

SAR President Bruno also stated that “the impact of recent events in the financial market may cause some uncertainly in terms of national home sales, but we all know that real estate is local, and Sarasota is traditionally a market that emerges from tough times with strength and leads the new wave of prosperity.”

Sarasota Real Estate Market Recap for July 2011

  • Total Properties Sold: 599
  • Single Family Homes Sold: 445
  • Condos Sold: 154
  • Median Price Single Family Homes: $169,900
  • Median Price Condos: $145,000

The Sarasota real estate market continues to tempt international buyers who have marked Sarasota as a “hot” destination for decades. Price adjustments have afforded many real estate buyers the opportunity of a lifetime to purchase a home or condo in one of the world’s most beautiful cities where culture and the arts intertwine with Sarasota's crown jewels, the barrier islands of Siesta Key, Casey Key, Bird Key, Lido Key and Longboat Key.

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