Sarasota, Manatee real estate sales in 2020 top 2019 levels

Even with the unpredictability in the local economy, real estate sales in Sarasota and Manatee counties came through 2020’s COVID-19 pandemic in record fashion.

Closed sales of single-family homes and condominiums in the two counties surpassed figures reported in 2019 and past years, up 10.4% and 15.1% respectively, according to data released Thursday by the Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee.

Combined, the total of 25,031 closed sales across the two counties represented an 11.8% gain over 2019. Value of those sales reached $10.6 billion.

Available for-sale inventory is down. In Manatee County, condos fell to two months of supply, while single-family homes dropped to 1.5 months. Sarasota condos fell to a 2.6 months’ supply, while single-family homes decreased to 1.6 months’ supply. At this time last year, there were 6,858 properties on the market, compared to 3,725 now.

“When the pandemic hit early last year, we weren’t really sure what to expect for real estate,’’ said 2021 RASM President Alex Krumm.  “These record number of sales just show the strength and resiliency of our local housing market. Sales are up while the number of available homes is down. Importantly, this is not a 'housing bubble.' This is purely supply and demand, and as long as we have more buyers than sellers, we'll continue to see this incredibly strong market in 2021.”

Single-family home prices rose to a median of $325,000 in Sarasota, a 12.1% increase from last year’s $290,000. In Manatee County, the median price for single-family homes reached $345,000, an 8.5 percent rise from the $318,000 price reported in 2019.

 In Sarasota County, condo prices increased from $235,980 in 2019 to a year-end median of $255,000 in 2020. The median condo prices in Manatee County rose from $200,400 in 2019 to $225,000 in 2020.

“These numbers point to a market filled with opportunity for sellers. There is still a lot of demand from buyers who are choosing to purchase at record low interest rates and rapidly increase their equity,” Krumm said. “As the total number of sales increases–and critically, the number of homes available to purchase decreases–we'll continue to see rapidly increasing prices which could impact attainable and affordable housing in our area.”

2020 saw the highest price sale of a residential property ever recorded in Sarasota and Manatee, and five of the top 10 all-time sales in the two counties. 

In November, the Serenissima estate on Longboat Key sold for $16.5 million just months after the sale of a $13,000,001 beachfront property, also on Longboat Key.