In October of 2021, The Sarasota Real Estate Market experienced yet another month of strong housing appreciation. Whether looking at the full range of price points or focusing on the upper tiers of the market, the growth of both median and average sale prices is outpacing anything that I remember in my nearly 40-year career here.
Looking at the market as a whole, single-family homes and condominiums in all price points had shown a steady pattern over a 3-year period. However, between the period of the onset of the pandemic and October of this year, median sale prices grew 33.1% and average sale prices are up 37%. As we know now, many in the workforce had fully transitioned to virtual, others determined early retirement might be a good plan. With winter on the horizon, it seemed the gates had been flung open starting around October of last year and buyers were flooding into our market.
Many had cashed out of their northern and western homes or vacated their rentals, and decided it was time to change their environment (on many levels!). With values in the Sarasota area considerably less than where they were moving from, most had available cash to move quickly on their purchases.
In the price tier over $1 million, where most of my transactions happen, October’s average prices surged nearly 24% higher than they were just one year earlier. And since the early days of the pandemic, average sale prices have soared to 42% higher. Median luxury prices saw a more modest gain of 6.5% year-over-year.
Where we have been accustomed to inventories in the luxury tier to run in the 10-months or higher properties available for sale, we now have only 2.9 months of supply.
Days from listing to sale have narrowed from a high of 159 days on market for homes over $1,000,000 in October of 2016, to a low this past July of just 45 days. We have moved from making “offers” to bidding wars, inventory fell to record lows and prices have grown exponentially as a result.
The Sarasota Real Estate Market has consistently seen new listings each month nearly equal to new pending sales. This has caused the region to continue to have a desperately low inventory of for sale properties for all of this year. However, real estate market analysts are projecting that many sellers who have been sitting on the fence for the last two years are ready to list their properties, which will help to ease the inventory imbalance and soften the pace of price increases.
Home builder confidence remains extremely high, despite the supply side challenges and labor shortages. New home permitting and condominium development are moving at as quick a pace as market conditions allow but, those are unlikely to have as large an effect as is needed to impact unmet demand.
As we move into what is normally our busier season, my expectation is that prices will continue their remarkable strength, as it is impossible to increase available inventory fast enough to meet demand. However, as we start to see the anticipated increase in existing homes coming online it is my hope that the market will see more balance as we move into second-quarter 2022
As you consider your real estate goals for the year ahead, whether buying or selling, having a professional with a critical and analytical approach, an understanding of the realities, and able to set expectations based on pragmatic and practiced conclusions will ensure your goals are achieved.
With decades of experience managing hundreds of transactions, and experiencing the Sarasota Real Estate Market’s variability, my knowledge throughout the region can help. Whether looking to relocate to a new neighborhood, considering upsizing or downsizing, or adding to your real estate portfolio, I would be happy to discuss your next steps with you.
And now for my statistical report on the October Sarasota Real Estate Market activity:
Sales
- Total market dollar volume in October was $613.4 million which decreased by $12.4 million from a year ago.
- Broken down, single-family sales were $467.7 million and condo sales were $145.7 million for the month.
- The volume in single-family was up $8.5 million from last year while condo volume was down $20.9 million.
- The number of properties sold this past month was 1,107, which is 245 less than a year ago. The sales total includes 788 houses, 141 behind last year; and 319 condos, 104 below last year. The monthly average of sold properties this year is 1,400 where the monthly was 1,179 in 2020 and 1,074 in 2019.
- Florida’s single-family sales decreased 6.8% from last year, and condo sales were 5.6% below last year. Homes sold for in excess of $1 million were up 7.1% over October 2020, and condos closed at over $1 million rose 20.5%.
- U.S. single-family sales declined 5.8% and condos fell 5.6%.
- Of the closed sales in Sarasota in October, 87 were for over $1,000,000, 65 were houses and 22 were condominiums.
- In 2020 Sarasota averaged 50 house sales and 23 condo sales per month over a $1 million, while this year we are averaging 186 houses and 46 condos over $1 million.
- Last month 1,374 listings went pending, a decrease of 195 transactions from a year ago. For 2020 the monthly average for pending sales was 1,264 and this year it is 1,406, an 11% increase.
- Florida’s single-family pending sales decreased 3.6% and condos were nearly equal to last year.
- U.S. pending sales in October were 1.4% behind a year ago.
Prices
- Single-family homes were sold at a median price of $410,00 in October. The 2020 monthly median price for houses sold was $321,000.
- In October, Florida median price for single-family homes was $358,950, up 17.7 % over last year.
- The national median price for existing homes grew 13.5% to $350,800.
- Sarasota’s condo median sale price was $332,900. The 2020 monthly median price was $255,000.
- Median price for a Florida condo in October was $260,000, a 17.6% increase over prior year.
- U.S. median condo price grew 8.7% to $297,700.
- Sarasota houses sold on average for $593,562 where the 2020 monthly average was $455,000.
- Condos sold for an average price of $456,745 in October. The condo monthly average sale price in 2020 was $382,000.
Inventory
- Currently there are only 1,024 properties for sale in Sarasota. This is a decrease of 63 listings from the month before. There were 2,272 at the end of 2020, 4,086 at the end of 2019 and 5,401 at the end of 2018.
- Of the available inventory for sale, there are just 259 properties listed for over $1 million. Of the active listings over $1,000,000, 177 are houses and 82 are condos.
- The Sarasota market had 1,195 new listings in October. Of the new listings the past month, 116 properties were listed over $1,000,000.
- Current inventory results in 0.8 months of single-family homes for sale in Sarasota and 0.7 month’s supply of condominiums.
- Florida currently has 1.3 months of single-family inventory and 1.6 month’s supply of condominiums. Inventory of properties selling for over $1 million have fallen about 30% from last year.
- U.S. inventory of existing single-family homes fallen to just 2.4 months of supply.
