Casey Key sales show uptick in market

Sales on Casey Key have increased steadily since 2012.

An estate sold for $6.2 million at the end of August, marking the largest residential property sale in three years.

The Gulf-to-bay property features a six-bedroom house, which has been nicknamed “Casa Al Mare” for its 230 feet of Gulf frontage and 114 feet of bay frontage, a private dock and a boathouse. The house at 2016 Casey Key Road is 7,781 square feet under-air, and 14,000 square feet total.

According to a press release from Michael Saunders & Co., whose agents listed and sold the estate, the buyers had been searching for a Florida home for a year on both coasts. They ultimately chose Casey Key for its privacy and natural beauty, and because it was close to Sarasota’s restaurants, cultural events and the Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport. Deborah Beacham, of the Longboat Key South office of Michael Saunders & Co., was the listing agent, and  Mark McCann and Camille Schwabe, with the firm’s Siesta Key office, sold the property.

Michael Saunders also sold a 2.5-acre vacant Gulf-to-bay parcel in the same area of the Key for $3.55 million. Six other sales are pending, and 14 transactions have been closed this year so far.

“Four of the sales were above $3 million; with this latest sale of $6.2 million establishing what I believe will be strong forward momentum for the rest of the year,” said Beacham.

Beacham said real estate activity has been unusually busy during this summer, and the market trend isn't isolated to Casey Key. This time last year, 8,025 properties of all price ranges were sold January through August in Sarasota County; this year, there have been 8,152.

These numbers have increased significantly from the years before, said Tom Heatherman, corporate communications director for Michael Saunders.

“I’m fairly confident we didn’t sell anything even approaching that number during the recession,” Heatherman said.