Sarasota ranked No. 2 on Florida list of best places to buy

In a market seemingly awash in million-dollar sales, a national consulting company lists Sarasota-Bradenton the second metro area in Florida in terms of best places to buy a home versus renting.

SmartAsset, a financial technology company, ranks Sarasota 24th nationally on a list of break-even points for renting vs. buying. Cape Coral-Fort Myers came out on top in Florida.

SmartAsset looked at an average rent of about $1,500 for the area and an average mortgage payment on a typical home (4.5% interest, 20% down) of about $1,110 and determined it would take about two years, three months for renting to become more costly than buying.

Gary, Indiana was the nation’s top market, with break-even point at 1 year, four months. Washington, Nevada and California were the only states in whole deemed better for renters than buyers by the study.

Sarasota is in the midst of an upswing in sales and price appreciation, according to Michael Molton, a certified resident specialist broker-associate with Michael Saunders & Company, who writes a monthly report on the local market.

According to his most recent report:

• The 2018 monthly year to date average for sold properties is 1,040 whereas the 2017 monthly average was 978 for the year and in 2016 the monthly average was 952.
• The number of properties sold in April including both single family and condominiums in the Sarasota area was 1,200, which was 20 less than March and 26 more than a year ago.
• In April, Sarasota’s single-family homes were sold at a median price of $285,000 vs. $272,500 a year ago, a 5% increase.
• Condominium median sale price was $235,000 in April vs. $215,000 in April 2017.
• Overall properties sold for 95% of the list price, a consistent ratio on a regular basis. The 2017 average for all properties sold was 95.6% of list price at the time of contract vs. the original list price.