What a year for real estate in Sarasota! Housing prices have been rising steadily, after a decade that saw homes sales hit an all-time high and then quickly crash to a record low, as high prices became unsustainable for home buyers. The economy is recovering and there can be no better evidence than the record number of closed transactions in Sarasota in 2014—11,550! This tops the 2004 record which saw a total of 11,482 closed transactions. Manatee County also had an outstanding year with 7,976 sales, just 28 sales shy of 2013’s record setting year.
Return To Pre-Crisis Levels
The Association President Stafford Starcher says “This is truly historic news, and clearly demonstrates our region is experiencing a remarkable success story in real estate. Sarasota and Manatee counties have never seen this level of combined sales activity, which actually surpassed the 2004-2005 boom years of a decade ago. The credit goes to our members, who routinely provide excellent service to the buyers and sellers in our area. I couldn’t be more proud of these amazing Realtors® and all those in industries that support real estate.”
Lower Unemployment And Energy Costs
With a stronger economy, we are seeing lower energy costs and unemployment is at an eight year low. In addition, distressed sales—short sales and foreclosures—dropped to 20 percent of the total in December from 21.2 percent in November. During the 2008 market crisis, almost 50 percent of sales were distressed. It’s great to see the market picking back up again and in a positive direction. Hopefully, 2015 will be another record year for the Sarasota-Manatee real estate market.
Team Coffey and Company will be happy to provide you with advice on the Sarasota real estate market! Call us today on 877.308.6311 or get in touch Online.