In August, Sarasota’s Real Estate Market saw more closed sales, higher median prices, significant growth in total dollar volume of transactions, and many more properties going under contract than previous year. The surge in activity can be partially attributed to the delays caused by the market’s near shutdown in the spring, but also the shift in demand and movement of residents from higher density markets.
Recent data from CoreLogic reported that U.S. home equity has grown 6.6% over prior year. Homeowners understand the opportunity they have and are putting those gains to work for them in buying larger, more attractive, or better located homes.
With extremely limited inventory, especially in the Sarasota Real Estate Market where availability of existing single-family homes has fallen by 1/3 from this time last year, buyers are moving more quickly on making offers and closing, and we are seeing list to contract prices narrowing as a result.
Sarasota’s all-cash sales have also been exceptionally strong, with 32% of single-family transactions and 46% of condominium sales closed last month without a mortgage. Compare this to all U.S. sales in August, which had just 18% of all sales as cash-based transactions.
New home sales in the U.S. last month topped one million for the first time since 2006, and August alone was 43.2% ahead of prior year. In fact, the National Home Builder Association reported that builder confidence last month reached an all-time high in the 35-year history of monitoring the trade group’s sentiment!
As we see reported regularly in this region, our local homebuilder activity is robust with several developments throughout Sarasota and Manatee Counties ranked as some of the fastest pace of construction and sales in the country. With just 2.2 months of supply of existing homes in our market, it is no wonder new home sales are brisk.
The Sarasota Luxury Real Estate Market has seen considerably more activity than last year, with more than double the number of single-family homes and condos priced over $1 million changing hands last month compared to August 2019. This has brought inventory at this price tier to just 297 homes and 152 condos.
As I have said in the last several months of my report, with inventory this low, if you are considering listing your home or condo for sale – now is the time! You may have seen in my Facebook posting this last week, I had a listing that barely had time for the ink to dry before it was snapped up. If your property is in a highly desirable location and we work to right-price it, chances are you can move on to your next home or condo pretty swiftly! I would be happy to meet with you to discuss your plans to put your property on the market – give me a call!
And now for my statistical report on the August Sarasota Real Estate Market activity:
Sales
- Total market dollar volume this past month was $571.7 million, which increased by $170.7 million or up 42.5% from a year ago.
- Broken down, single-family sales were $425.7 million and condo sales were $146 million for the month.
- The number of properties sold this past month was 1,271, that is 167 more than a year ago. The sales total includes 867 houses (up 12.7%) and 404 condos (up 20.6%.) The monthly sold properties average was 1,074 in 2019 and in 2018 it was 1,001.
- Florida’s single-family sales increased 8.8% from last year, and condo sales were 10.3% better than last year.
- U.S. single-family sales rose 11% in August and condo sales were up 6.8%.
- Of the Sarasota closed sales this past month 78 were for over $1,000,000, 58 were houses and 20 were condominiums, more than double last August’s luxury tier activity.
- Florida homes sold for in excess of $1 million were 81.6% higher than August 2019 and condos closed at over $1 million increased 63.5%.
- In 2019 Sarasota averaged 32 house sales and 14 condo sales per month over a $1 million, a small but impactful segment of our overall sales.
- Listings that went pending last month were 1,398, an increase of 274 transactions from a year ago, or nearly 25% higher than prior year. For 2019 the monthly average for pending sales was 1,121.
- Florida’s single-family pending sales increased 29.9% and condo contracts signed were up 20.7% compared to last year.
Prices
- Single-family homes in Sarasota were sold at a median price of $330,000, up 17.9% over last year. The 2019 monthly median price for houses sold was $288,325.
- In August, Florida’s median price for single-family homes was $300,000, a 12.2% increase over last year.
- The national median price for existing homes grew 11.7% to $315,000. The U.S. has now had 102 consecutive months of price growth.
- Sarasota’s condo median sale price was $249,495, up 8% from last August. The 2019 monthly median price was $236,797.
- Median price for a Florida condo last month was $217,500, a 14.5% increase over August 2019.
- U.S. median condo price 7.8% to $273,300.
- Sarasota houses sold year-to-date have averaged $490,948 where the 2019 monthly average was $393,418.
- Condos sold for an average price of $361,443 last month. The condo monthly average sale price in 2019 was $346,755.
Inventory
- Currently there are 2,877 properties for sale in Sarasota. This is a decrease of 183 listings from the month before. There were 4,086 listings at the end of 2019 and 5,401 listings at the end of 2018, demonstrating the significant drop in available properties for sale in the area.
- Of the available inventory for sale, 449 properties are listed for over $1 million or only 15%. Of the active listings over $1,000,000, 297 are houses and 152 are condos.
- The Sarasota market had 1,351 new listings this past month. The market averaged 1,040 new listings per month in 2019.
- Current inventory results in 2.2 months of single-family homes for sale in Sarasota and 3.7 month’s supply of condominiums, indicating a strong seller’s market.
- Florida currently has 2.3 months of single-family inventory and 5.3 month’s supply of condominiums.
- U.S. inventory of existing properties has fallen 18.6% over the year.
In today’s ever-fluid real estate market, the value of partnering with a highly experienced, locally as well as globally connected agent/broker, and a skilled negotiator and advocate cannot be overstated.
Having served clients in The Sarasota Real Estate Market for 37 years and carefully analyzing our business conditions, I have developed essential insight to assist both buyers and sellers in achieving their objectives.
It would be my privilege to work with you, your family and friends in realizing your goals in acquiring or selling your property.
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