Sarasota real estate market report: July 2013

The real estate market in Sarasota has been on an amazing streak lately, and that positive trend has continued in July. Sarasota Realtors were a part of 911 sales during the month of July, which is over 30% better than the numbers we were seeing at this point last year. In fact, this was actually a 3.2% increase over the numbers we saw last month. 2013 is looking to be one of the best years for Sarasota real estate in the entire history of the Sarasota Association of Realtors.

In addition to having more real estate sales in Sarasota, July also saw an increase in the median sale price of Sarasota single family homes. There was an increase of over $25,000 in the average sale price this past month, as the average sale price in July was $227,500. This turns out to be a 7.2% increase in one month. Over the past year, the median single family home price has increased by 16%. It is looking like 2013 will bring the largest single-year increase in sale prices of these particular types of homes in the last four years. Although, we like to compare sales month by month, it is important to remember that real estate sales are most accurate when looked at in a 1 year, 5 year, and 10 year block. The month to month is great in conveying sales as they happen, but one large sale may skew the numbers. 

While the housing market is on the rise, the current market for Sarasota condos for sale has not been performing as well. Prices of condos dropped to $162,900 from $192,500 in one month, which is an amazing drop of more than 15 percentage points. Condo prices have been a bit volatile this year, and the range of median price by month this year has been between $130,000 and $194,500. The main reason for the recent decline in condo prices has been the increase in condo sales for less than $100,000. The additional factor is that Million dollar condo sales are on the decline. The 12-month median condo sale price is only 2% higher than it was at this point in 2012.

Inventory was on the rise in July, as it grew to 3,152. This is roughly 1% higher than what we saw in June. While this slight increase is a good sign for buyers, we are still dealing with a 13% inventory drop from this time last year.

Pending sales were at 909 in July, which is roughly 10% lower than what we saw in June 2013. The number of pending sales in July of 2012 was 919. This slight decline in pending sales can be directly attributed to the lower inventory levels and increases in pricing. 

SAR President Roger Piro thinks that the 30% increase in home sales year over year is the biggest news of the summer.  The buyers are here to stay in Sarasota, so it is important for everyone to get in on the action while they can. Piro also referred to the current local real estate market as a "historic time." One of his final thoughts was that this does not have the making of another bubble because we have seen condo prices go up and down during this same time period where housing prices have seen a steady rise in value.  This, in addition to the financial strength of the buyers in this market can give real estate professionals a good sense that the steady increasing in prices will be seen for a while. 

For July 2013, single family home inventory was at 3.1 months. This number rises to 4.6 months for condos. Both of these levels are near record lows for the past decade of the local real estate market. These numbers indicate the amount of time that it would actually take all of the real estate agents to sell everything at the current rate of sales. The numbers for this time last year were 4.5 months for single family homes and 7.5 months for the condos.

Piro has stated that he expects the growth to continue in the real estate market until the end of the year as it did in 2012. It will be hard for this kind of repeat to happen since home values were up so much by the end up 2012, but the past has shown us that the entire housing market can be rather unpredictable at times.

If you have any questions about purchasing a home for sale in Sarasota, or investment properties in Sarasota, we'd love to help. Please contact Key Solutions Real Estate Group, or call (941) 894-1255.