July 2009 sales were only slightly lower than the 610 sales in June 2009, when overall sales rose above the 600 level for only the second time in 26 months. The statistics all continue to point to a market in the initial stages of recovery.

Inventory levels continued to decline. There were 4,067 single family homes for sale at the end of July, down from 4,477 at the end of June. Condos experienced a similar decline, to 2,447 from 2,587. Inventory is now at its lowest point in more than 5 years.

The number of months of inventory – the time it would theoretically take to sell all the current properties on the market – now stands at 9.04 for single family and 16.9 months for condos. This is in stark contrast to last year at this time, when the figures were 26.2 months for single family homes and 35.4 months for condominiums. The trend is downward toward the figure of 6 months, which indicates a market in balance (anything below 6 months indicates a return to a seller’s market).

Prices have also returned to more realistic, sustainable levels, with the median sale price for single family homes at $185,000 in July 2009, compared to $190,000 in June and $250,000 a year ago. The median sale price for condos was $212,000 in July, compared to $250,000 the previous month and $252,500 a year ago.

Pending sales also remained at very high levels, with 802 properties going under contract in July 2009. Pending sales have dropped off slightly from the 929 reported in May 2009 and the near record 981 pending sales reported in April 2009. But the total of 802 was still 37 percent higher than the 584 pending sales reported in July 2008. Pending sales have now exceeded the 500 level for the 19th consecutive month, and the 800 level for the fifth straight month. Generally, pendings trend downward during the summer months, the slower sales season in our market.

The statistic is a strong indicator for the next two or three months of sales, when many of these pendings will become closed sales. Pending sales reflect contracts executed by buyers and sellers during the month.

“Our local market is maintaining an encouraging level of sales volume and lower inventories,” said 2009 SAR President Bill Geller. “As we enter the traditionally slower season, we can expect some drop off in activity. But we still have the first-time home buyer tax credit of $8,000 on the table, and that expires on Nov. 30, 2009. We strongly encourage local Realtors® to keep their clients informed about this and get them started in the real estate buying process in order to close the sales prior to the expiration date.”

Geller noted that as the national economy appears to be emerging from recession, according to most leading economists and the Federal Reserve Board, the local real estate market appears to be a leader in the recovery process.

“I’m very optimistic about our local real estate market, because we’ve always emerged strongly from down times in the past,” explained Geller. “We have it all here – great weather, beautiful beaches and green spaces, amazing cultural amenities, and an incredible selection of homes and condos. There are very few places in the nation that have all that we have to offer.”

The median price of all single family homes sold in the last 12 months was $172,000, compared to a median of $260,000 for the 12 months ending in August 2008. For condominiums sold in the last 12 months, the median sales price was $212,010, compared to last year’s figure of $332,000. *

*A 12-month rolling median price is not as susceptible to the volatility that can occur within any particular month, which sometimes results in drastic statistical swings up or down from one month to the next.

One of our instructors, Steve David, a thirty-five year veteran with a wealth of knowledge in the Florida market from Fort Lauderdale, Florida stated that his studies indicated a 3% growth rate in real estate appreciation on the East Coast of Florida. He stated that the large amount of inventory and pace of sales on the East Coast were the contributing factors to this projection.

Sarasota with a population of under 60,000 has always had a 6% to 7% annual real estate appreciation during past years, except during the real estate boom, because of all the amenities, charm, beaches, social life, restaurants, boating, golf, tennis and arts available in this delightful gulf coast oasis.

Sarasota is a better investment going forward and now is the time to buy when the real estate market offers excellent opportunities to purchase your gulf coast oasis.

Perhaps, the new, stronger, more energy efficient building code and green features are prompting more home owners to build a new home. With high energy costs and water rationing, building a home with advanced technology will payback very quickly and make the investment more valuable at resale.

Inventory levels were lower in April 2008, which is a good indicator that a market is beginning to return to a more balanced state.The days on market are also dropping each month, and this reflects the pace of sales.

March sales in Sarasota top 500 for first time since July 2007
Pending sales highest in a year, indicating improving market for summer

Overall property sales in the local market for March 2008 topped 500 for the first time in eight months, according to statistics pulled from the Sarasota MLS system. There were 514 property sales reported in the Sarasota MLS, easily topping the February 2008 sales of 423.

There were 344 single family homes sold by SAR members in March 2008, along with 170 condominium units. This compares to 294 single family sales in February and 129 condominium sales, which means March saw an overall increase of 21.7 percent over February.

Single family homes saw a small decline in the median sale price, from $285,000 in February 2008 down to $266,750 in March 2008 – a 6.3 percent decline. But condominiums saw a small increase in the median sale price from $230,500 in February2008 to $235,000 in March 2008.

“Once again, the local Sarasota market is proving its resilience, even as the state and national housing market statistics continue to show weakness,” said Helen Sosso, 2008 SAR President. “It is remarkable how our local real estate practitioners are weathering this downturn, and proving once again the value of a professional Realtor® during difficult times. As we’ve been saying for more than a year, this is a prime buyer’s market, with historically low interest rates, moderating prices, and an incredible, high quality inventory of homes on the market.”

One of the continuing bright spots in the March 2008 report was the strength in pending sales, which stood at 674 – the highest level in the past year. In March 2007 pending sales were at 706. Pending sales have been edging upward since December 2007, when there were 374 pending sales.

Pending sales counts the number of signed contracts in a month, and is a leading indicator of sales activity. There is a direct correlation between pending sales and closed sales that are reported in the following month or two.Inventory levels were lower in March 2008 at 10,025 single family homes, compared to 10,596 in March 2007, and down slightly from February 2008, when there were 10,035. Condominium levels also decreased from the March 2007 level of 6,180 to 5,702 in March 2008, but up slightly from the February 2008 level of 5,588.

The days on market, which translates to the average time it took to sell a property, was at 152 days for single family homes, slightly higher than the 144 days in March 2007, but lower than the 160 days in February 2008. Average days on the market for condos was 181, a healthy drop from the 199 days reported in March 2007, and much lower than the 219 days in February 2008. The days on market reflects a quicker pace of sales, meaning the size of the current inventory should begin to decline going forward.

The local Sarasota-Bradenton MSA continued to fare better than the overall state. The MSA was down by 15 percent for single family home sales and 17 percent for condominiums, comparing March 2008 to March 2007. For the overall state, single family homes declined 26 percent comparing March 2008 to March 2007, and condominium sales were down 24 percent month to month.

In fact, the smaller Sarasota-Bradenton market again sold more overall properties than the Miami market. There were 1,022 overall sales reported for the local MSA, compared to only 609 in Miami.

The median sale price dropped by 18 percent for single family homes, and by 32 percent for condominiums in the MSA. This compares to 15 percent and 20 percent statewide in the two categories, respectively.
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