Sarasota named among top small towns for luxury homebuyers

By Alex Mahadevan
| 4:00 a.m. July 21, 2014

A Siesta Key property known as Snook Inn sold for $10 million last year, making it the largest residential sale in Sarasota.

Siesta Key
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What do the Principality of Monaco and the city of Sarasota have in common? According to Christie’s International Real Estate, they are two of 10 of the most popular small communities for wealthy homebuyers.

In Luxury Defined, Christie’s report on the luxury residential property market in 2013, Sarasota is listed as a “Jewel Box Market,” which is characterized as a community with a population of less than 150,000 that has a large percentage of wealthy residents and “quality lifestyle offerings.” The report cites the 8% of the local properties worth $1 million or more and a positive trend in the luxury market last year as reasons for Sarasota’s inclusion.

“The encouraging pace at which luxury properties are selling has prompted many sellers who waited out the recession and list their properties this season,” said Michael Saunders & Co. founder and CEO Michael Saunders in the report.

“Jewel Box” markets as defined by Christie’s International Real Estate include:
+ Bedford, N.Y.
+ Jackson Hole, Wyo.
+ La Jolla, Calif.
+ Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.
+ Sylt, Germany
+ The Principality of Monaco
+ Montecito, Calif.
+ Punta del Este, Uruguay
+ Lugano, Switzerland
+ Sarasota