Now that 2009 is behind us and we are on to 2010 I want to summarize what transpired in the Sarasota County real estate market the past year. There were a total of 8,084 properties sold the past year with 5,640 being single family homes and 2,444 being a condominium. The following table summarizes what happened in each price segment. All statistics are as of the end of 2009.
| Houses | Sold | Pending | Listed |
|---|---|---|---|
| $250,000 & under | 4181 | 1247 | 1759 |
| $250,000 to $500,000 | 1002 | 277 | 1108 |
| $500,000 to $750,000 | 239 | 58 | 363 |
| $750,000 to $1,000,000 | 89 | 34 | 34 |
| $1,000,000 to $2,000,000 | 94 | 32 | 330 |
| $2,000,000 & above | 35 | 10 | 232 |
| Totals | 5640 | 1658 | 3995 |
| Condominiums | Sold | Pending | Listed |
|---|---|---|---|
| $250,000 & under | 1702 | 450 | 1431 |
| $250,000 to $500,000 | 456 | 107 | 674 |
| $500,000 to $750,000 | 142 | 28 | 306 |
| $750,000 to $1,000,000 | 63 | 9 | 166 |
| $1,000,000 to $2,000,000 | 62 | 10 | 162 |
| $2,000,000 & above | 19 | 5 | 80 |
| Totals | 2444 | 609 | 2819 |
| Grand Totals | 8084 | 2267 | 6814 |
70% of 2009’s sales were single family homes and 30% were condominiums. Of the total sales, 73% were properties that sold for $250,000 or less, 18% were sold for between $250,000 and $500,000, 6% sold for between $500,000 and $1,000,000 and 3% sold for over $1,000,000.
As the statistics relate to listed properties at year end we have 10.1 months of inventory overall. There is only 8 months of inventory for properties listed under $500,000, in the price bracket of $500,000 to $1,000,000 there is 23.4 months of inventory and over $1,000,000 there is 46 months of inventory. In general six months of inventory is considered a neutral market meaning neither a buyers or sellers market.
Obviously the first time home buyer tax incentives coupled with low interest rates has had a wonderful effect in lowering inventory for homes listed under $500,000. Here’s to hoping that buyers begin to realize home prices have bottomed out and we start to reduce the inventory of luxury homes. 2010 here we come.
