Last week, the Sarasota Association of Realtors reported the May 2010 figures. Once again the results are positive and continue to signal a recovery in the Sarasota real estate market. The full press release is below.
Sarasota Real Estate Market at Highest Level Since 2005; Prices Remain Stable
Property sales in May 2010 in the Sarasota market once again hit the highest total since 2005 and median sale prices continued the steady pace observed in recent months. The 766 sales were the highest for the year, topping the April 2010 total of 757, and were the highest total since December 2005, and 51.3 percent higher than the May 2009 total of 506 sales.
Pending sales were once again strong, hitting 857, but were slower than April 2010. The March and April pending sales figures both topped 1,000, and reflected a last minute rush to beat the federal homebuyer tax credit deadline.
“The May 2010 statistics continued to show that the Sarasota real estate market is continuing a steady recovery,” said 2010 SAR President Erick Shumway. “We saw a slight dip in the pending sales, which will likely be reflected in the sales numbers over the next 30 to 60 days. But median sale prices are higher than last year at this time, and we remain optimistic.” Members of the Sarasota Association of Realtors® sold 539 single family homes and 227 condos in May 2010, a huge jump over May 2009, which saw only 375 single family homes and 131 condos sold.
The median sale price for a single family home was also trending higher at $169,000, up 8.4 percent from last May’s figure of $155,000. For the last 12 months combined, the median sale price for single family homes was $165,000. For condos, the median price was $184,500, slightly higher than last May’s figure of $181,000, while the median sale price for condos over the last 12 months was $192,000.
The pace of sales quickened for single family homes, with the average days on market dropping to 168, from 195 days last May. For condos, the figure stood at 213 days, slightly higher than last May’s figure of 203 days. The level of sales of stressed properties(foreclosures and short sales) rose slightly in May 2010 to 40 percent of the overall market, from 38 percent in April 2010. The distressed market topped 48 percent in late 2009, so the overall trend remains downward – a good sign for a market returning to normal.
The property inventory level remained steady in May 2010 at 6,094, which is the lowest level since late summer of 2005. The months of inventory for single family homes in May 2010 dropped to 7.2 months, the number of months it would take to sell all available homes at the current pace.
This was a significant drop from May 2009 – 14.3 months– and very near equilibrium. For condos, the figure fell to 9.7 months, much lower than last May’s figure of 19.0 months. Once the market reaches the 6 month level it is considered to be in equilibrium between a buyers and sellers market.
