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 February 2011 real estate sales were up 24.2% from January and up 27% to 673 from February, 2010’s total of 528 sales. There were 472 single family home and 201 condo closings last month.
In addition to the positive home and condominium sales figures, pending sales (those under contract, but not yet closed) also registered above the 1,000 level in February, with 1,023 total properties going under contract following the 1,013 under contract in January. Both of these numbers are well above the 967 homes under contract in February, 2010 when sales volumes were being driven by the Federal home buyer tax credit program.
This upward trend in sales and pending sales is being driven by Sarasota real estate buyers of all types; second-home buyers, investors, and bargain hunters realizing that today’s lower prices coupled with low interest rates present a buying opportunity not seen in Sarasota in many years.
At the same time, the inventory of unsold homes on the Sarasota real estate market dropped to its lowest level in six years.
The combination of higher home and condominium sales along with the higher level of pending sales caused a sharp drop in the months of inventory to 8.0 months in February from 10.2 months in January for single family homes, and to 10.4 months from 14.1 months for condos. Only two years ago, in January 2009, there were 25.3 months of inventory for single family homes and 38.4 months of condo inventory on the market.
The real estate market is considered to be in equilibrium between a buyers and sellers market once the inventory of unsold months reaches the 6-month level.
“Fewer properties on the real estate market usually causes price appreciation,” said Judie Berger of Sotheby International Realty. “It’s a matter of supply and demand. If there are more buyers competing for a smaller number of properties, selling prices are usually driven up.”
Nationally, first-time unemployment claims have fallen, financial markets have stabilized, and consumer confidence in rising nationwide. Increases in consumer confidence have historically suggested that home prices are bottoming out. When people see employment and financial markets improving, it tends to signal that the bottom has been reached in prices and prices are either already, or will soon start, moving upward again.
Even though real estate is still stuck at historically low levels in other parts of the country, the Sarasota - Bradenton Florida has already started recovering.
If you’re a “snowbird” or a local resident wondering whether now is the time to buy a seasonal or year-round home or condo here in Sarasota, you should call me this week. Let me help you find that golf course or waterfront home or condo you’ve been dreaming of now before prices start heading back up again as they surely will.
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