The Sarasota real estate market saw almost record sales in April of this year—1,195 closed transactions. You have to go back a decade, to 2004, to find higher sales. That year there were 1,223 closed transactions. Historically, March, April and May are strong months for home sales, and that trend has continued now that the real estate market has recovered. This year’s April figures, 759 single-family homes and 436 condos, represents increases of 9% and 24% respectively, over March of this year and 8% for single-family homes and 2% for condos over April of last year.
Happily, The Number Of Sarasota Foreclosures And Short Sales Continues To Drop
Another marker of the robust market is the downturn in the number of distressed sales in Sarasota. There has been a significant decrease in the number of short sales and foreclosures compared to the numbers we were seeing 4 years ago, at the height of the crisis, and even compared to April of last year, the decline is notable—16.6% of all sales compared to 22% last year. What has been instrumental in this decline is the significant reduction in short sales. There were just 45 this year, compared to 107 for the month of April, last year.
Median Prices For Sarasota Condos and Single-Family Homes Are On The Up
The increase in sales volume has been echoed by moderate increases in median sales prices as well; a fact which reflects the stability in the market. The median price for a single-family home was up to $196,250, a 3.8% increase over March prices. Meanwhile, Sarasota condos were up 8% over last month with the median price in April being $185,500. Compared to last year the increase in single-family homes was 4.4%, while condos were up significantly more at 14.7%, over the same month last year.
Total No. Of Homes For Sale In Sarasota Another Positive Sign
In terms of what’s down the road for the Sarasota real estate market, things continue to look up. Like last year, we’re on track to see strong figures for May and June, as indicated by the number of pending sales. The quantity of pending sales is currently at or near the numbers we have seen in the past several months. April pending sales were 1,040, a bit below March’s 1,248, which were the highest figures seen in 3 years. One other bright spot on the horizon is inventory levels. While numbers are down a bit form February’s highpoint over 5000, at 4,728 in April, that’s still 27% higher than the recent low hit in July of last year.
All in all, the situation is very positive in Sarasota and it looks like that trend will continue. As Peter Crowley, Sarasota Association of Realtors® President, remarked, “last year, June and July also continued to show a high level of sales and activity in the local real estate industry, so we are hoping for a repeat in 2014.”
Team Coffey and Company are the Sarasota real estate market experts! Call us today on 877.308.6311 or get in touch online. We’re waiting to help you find your Sarasota dream home.