Sarasota Real Estate Market Update - It Just Keeps Getting Better! Real estate sales in the Sarasota Area continued their hot streak in March with 887 properties changing hands. This was the biggest selling month for the Sarasota Real Estate Market since August of 2005!
For the record there were 628 single family homes and 259 condos sold in the Sarasota Real Estate Market. In addition, the median sales prices for single family homes rose to $210,000 and the median condo sales price was $182,000.
Pending sales in the Sarasota Real Estate Market increased to 1,221; not only the highest in seven years, but one of the highest in the history of the Sarasota Association of Realtors (SAR). Pending sales are homes under contract scheduled to close in the coming months. The high number indicates even better sales to come.
The current inventory of properties for sale in the Sarasota Real Estate Market continues to be at very low levels. There are only 3,643 properties available. For single family homes there are only 3.8 months of inventory, and for condos there are only 4.7 months of inventory. A balanced market between buyers and sellers is considered to be 6 months. Right now we are in a seller's market which makes buying very difficult for buyers.
For buyers looking in the under $300,000 range market choices are few and many homes are receiving multiple offers; sometimes selling over list price. In addition, hedge funds continue to buy up significant numbers of homes at inflated prices driving prices up at a more rapid pace. Some experts are concerned about a repeat of he housing bubble that sent prices tumbling just a few years back. Right now distressed sales, or bank-owned and short sales, are accounting for 30 percent of all sales.
"We are in the middle of an historic sales period, and the pending sales total indicates we could continue to see closings at near record highs," said SAR President Roger Piro. "Agents are reporting very high activity at open houses, and the seasonal surge of buyers has been at the highest level in many years. If this continues, as it did last year, the year 2013 could end up in the record books."
In the Sarasota Real Estate Market - It Just Keeps Getting Better!
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