Sarasota Real Estate Sales Reach their highest level since 2005
Posted by Andree Huffine on
In the 2nd Quarter of 2012, the Sarasota real estate market achieved the highest level of sales in seven years. There were 2,604 home and condo sales from April through June. The 864 closed transactions in June alone represent the second highest number of home and condominium sales since September 2005.  The only higher point was in April of this year when sales were slightly higher at 886. As expected with the migration north of our snow birders, the number of pending sales (properties undercontract but not yet closed) dropped just slightly in June after four months in a row when pending sales topped 1,000.
The available inventory of homes and condos on the market dropped again to another 10-year low of 3,816. The June inventory of homes for sale…
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Sarasota has long been known as “Florida's Cultural Coast,” and downtown Sarasota epitomizes that honor. It is home to a professional symphony, ballet, opera, jazz clubs, nearly a dozen theaters and 30 art galleries. Sarasota was recently ranked #1 on American Style Magazine’s annual list of the “25 Best Arts Destinations.”   But downtown Sarasota is also much more than an arts and cultural gem.
Once again, Sarasota, Florida has earned top honors by being named the “Best Place to Retire in the Country”. This time the honor was given by the TopRetirements.com website.  John Brady, founder of that website pointed out that “the best retirement cities and towns in America have good weather, access to healthcare, low property taxes, and a certain “wow” factor. Sarasota has all of those qualities and more.
In a recent article, Forbes Magazine reviewed a report issued by Trulia.com, an Internet search site frequently used by those searching for a new home. Nearly 90% of people who buy homes begin their searches on the Internet. As a result, Jed Kolko, chief economist and head of analytics at Trulia stated that, “where people are searching for properties is an indicator of which real estate markets are "picking up strength," and where home demand is growing.”
The Sarasota Association of Realtors just released their October results. In it, they reported total home and condo sales for October of 577, essentially unchanged from the September volume of 570. This October total consisted of 412 single-family homes and 165 condos. Last year at this point, there were only 487 home and condo sales. This is more evidence that the slump in Sarasota and Manatee County home sales is coming to an end after 5 long years.Â
I know – just like so many people were convinced during the boom that housing prices would continue to appreciate at 30 – 40% a year forever, many are convinced that the downward trend will continue too. But take a look at the 40 years of history in these 2 graphs and I think logic will tell you otherwise. We can always look in the rear view mirror and say “that’s when I should have bought or sold an asset”. Savvy investors know the best way to time an asset sale or purchase is to look at trends.
Here's an interesting statistic, I found recently. There are 78 million baby boomers in the U.S., and demographic professionals predict that one-sixth of them will spend part of their lives in Florida. That's almost 13 million new residents in Florida by 2023. Those future residents will be looking for the most attractive places in Florida to live. The Sarasota - Manatee County area will be high on their list of "most attractive places".