Reduced inventories keep Sarasota-area real estate prices climbing

Tight inventory of homes and condominiums for sale, even compared to typically tight mid-summer markets of previous years, continues to drive up real estate prices across Sarasota and Manatee counties, according to the region’s industry group.

As a result, the price run-up that began in June 2020 continues, a 15-month stretch of ever-higher selling prices for homes, condos and townhomes.

“We're just a few months out from our high season, and right now we have about half the number of available homes than we did this time last year,'' said   Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee President Alex Krumm, Broker Owner of NextHome Excellence in a prepared statement. 

"There is still enormous buyer demand—expect competition, and therefore prices, to continue to rise. Inventory almost always creeps up in the late summer and this year is no exception. It will be interesting to see what happens as we enter season with one-third of the available homes we had last year.”

According to the organization’s data, the Manatee median price for single-family homes was $430,000, a 19.4% increase from 2020. The single-family home price in Sarasota was $390,093 in August, an increase of 18.2%. In the condo market, Sarasota reported a 26.3% increase to a median price of $315,000, and Manatee reported a 23.3% increase to $275,000.

Fueling that increase is a tight inventory.

In Sarasota:

• There were 761 active single-family listings in August, down from 1,577 a year ago
• There were 293 active condo listings in August, down from 1,300 a year ago

In Manatee:

• There were 564 active single-family listings in August, down from 1,183 a year ago
• There were 218 active single-family listings in August, down from 753 a year ago.

“High competition for the limited number of available homes is tempting buyers to make sacrifices in price or condition in order to purchase,’’ Krumm said. “ Buyers should be patient in finding their home, aggressive when offering for a home, and above all, make sure that their offers allow them the opportunity to do their due diligence.”

Krumm’s point can be seen in time-to-contract data. The median time from listing date to contract date is hovering around one week in the two counties, down from roughly a month and a half in most cases.