Sarasota and Manatee county home prices continue upward trend

Home prices and sales in Sarasota and Manatee counties continued their upward trends in January, carrying over strong growth from the end of last year. Overall combined closed sales from January 2018 topped sales from January 2017 by 13% in the two-county area. 

“The increase in home sales and prices is a good indicator of a strong housing market in Manatee and Sarasota,” said Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee President Greg Owens in a statement. “The trend continues to show economic strength and positive growth to our area.”

After a sluggish beginning of the year for area real estate in 2017, Sarasota and Manatee finished with 20,291 closed sales for single-family homes and condos, a 1% increase compared to 2016. The slow start this time a year ago, combined with a strengthening market in recent months, led to significant year-over-year gains in January 2018. 

Single-family home sales in Manatee County increased by 12.7% to 399 in January, while condo sales decreased by 4.2% to 221. In Sarasota County, homes sales increased 9.5% with 519 closed sales and condo sales grew by 31.5% on 326 closed sales. 

Overall sales prices across all property types in the two counties are up compared to last year, though there was a slight decrease in condos. 

In Manatee County, the median price of single-family homes increased by 7.6%, to $300,145, while condo prices decreased by 1.4% to a median of $172,500. Sarasota County saw a 10.4% jump in single-family home prices to a median of $275,900, offsetting a 0.8% decrease in condo prices, which fell to $238,000. 

Across both counties, pending sales increased by 14.8% year over year. Condo pending sales increased by 20.9% and single-family homes saw an 11.8% increase.

When compared to December 2017, combined pending sales in the two-county area increased by 45.5%, an indicator of future closed sales this season, the RASM said in a release.

New listings from the past month also ticked upward, moving up with an overall increase of 7.3% from this time last year. Combined, new listings in the two-county area in January 2018 increased by 62.5% compared to December 2017 and the RASM expects new listings to continue increasing. 

Strong demand has dwindled inventory, which has seen an overall 3.8% decrease since January 2016. 

There is a 4.2-month supply of single-family homes in Manatee County and a 4.5-month supply of condos. Sarasota County's single-family home supply is at 4.1 months and condos have a 5.3-month supply. Six months of inventory is considered a balanced market.