Sarasota Real Estate Agents Sell Over 1,000 Properties in April

April 2013 was a banner month for the members of the Sarasota Association of Realtors. Not since June of 2005, the height of the housing market has the members reached four figures in sales. For 90 years, the SAR has only reached four figure sales ten times, and nine of those figures occurred during the top of the housing market in 2004 and 2005. The 1,000 sales represent a strong upward trend in the Sarasota housing market. 

The Sarasota real estate market for the spring of 2013 showed 714 single family homes sold along with 303 condominiums sold. A total of 1,017 closings occurred during the spring months, representing the highest total in eight years. The numbers represent a 14 percent increase from this time last year when 886 total closings were reported. 1,223 is the record amount of sales that occurred in April of 2004. 

Median sales prices helped fuel the surge in buying. In April of 2004, the median sales price of a home in Sarasota was $175,000. In April of this year, the figure rose 24 percent to a new median price of $217,000. However, the figures for condos continue to fluctuate where the median price of $185,000 is slightly lower than last year’s median sales price of $191,000. However, those figures do not drive away investors who still believe than can obtain a property in Sarasota for pennies on the dollar. In January of 2013, the median price for a condo stood at $130,000 which is one of the major reasons why investors flooded the market all the way through April. 

SAR President Roger Piro remarked, “This historic number of sales is a testimony to the hard working, professional realtors who belong to the SAR association. He went on to say, “Many agents and brokers I talk with are spending countless hours with buyers and sellers, working nights and weekends and going the extra mile to make sure they meet the needs of their clients. This has been an amazing time for the Sarasota real estate market, and it’s our members who help make dreams come true for those who want to make Sarasota their new home.”

Inventory in Sarasota remains at the lowest levels in nearly a decade, meaning buyers are continuing to flood the market. April inventories were recorded at 3,479 as compared to the March figure of 3,643. Since April of 2012, inventories year over year are down nearly 19 percent which again points to new buyers investing money in the Sarasota market. 

April of 2013 showed inventories currently available at 3.2 months of supply for single family homes and 3.9 months of supply for condos. These figures represent some of the lowest inventory levels in the past decade. The numbers reflect the amount of time in months it would take to deplete the housing inventory at the current sales rate. April 2012 showed 4.7 months of inventory for single family homes while condos stood at 5.1 months of inventory during the same month. The market was at its worst point in November of 2008, where 24 months of inventory was available at that particular sales rate for single family homes. Condos in November of 2008 showed a whopping 41.7 months of inventory for the sales rate at that time. 

As far as short sales and foreclosures for the month of April 2013, the Multiple Listing Service shows that only 376 properties are distressed or facing foreclosure. The figure represents 10.8 percent of current homes and condos that are listed for sale. This figure far exceeds the numbers from January 2012 where 19 percent of available properties for sale were short sales, distressed properties and foreclosures.