SARASOTA, Fla. (December 20, 2023) – The demand for housing in Sarasota and Manatee counties remains strong despite the higher interest rates and home prices. According to data from Florida REALTORS® and compiled by the REALTOR® Association of Sarasota and Manatee (RASM), November showed a continued rise in the month’s supply of inventory, approaching the levels seen leading up to the pandemic.
Combined sales for both property types in the North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton MSA increased year-overyear by 26.4 percent to 1,583 sales in November and decreased by 1.6 percent from the previous month. In Manatee County, single-family home sales increased by 22.2 percent to 550 sales and condo sales increased by 20.7 percent to 198 sales. In Sarasota County, single-family home sales increased by 31 percent to 541 sales and condo sales increased by 30.7 percent to 294 sales.
“Closed sales increased by more than 20 percent for properties in Sarasota and Manatee,” said Brian Tresidder, 2023 RASM President and Vice President of Operations at William Raveis Real Estate. “Despite the high prices, high-interest rates, and insurance concerns, the housing demand in the area remains strong, keeping home sales and prices steady.”
For single-family homes, the median sale price decreased by 4.1 percent to $485,861 in Manatee County and increased by less than one percent to $500,000 for single-family homes in Sarasota County.
The median sale price for Manatee condos decreased year-over-year by 1.8 percent to $351,500. For Sarasota condos, the median sale price increased by 58.8 percent from last year to $547,704. This recordhigh price is likely due to more sales this month at a higher price tier. In November 2023, 34 percent of all Sarasota condo sales sold at or above $1,000,000, after the closing of a downtown luxury condo development.
“The surge in closings and median sale prices in the Sarasota condo market can be directly attributed to the completion of Sarasota’s newest luxury condo building, marking the culmination of construction and the closing of a significant portion of the units for sale, providing a boost to the local real estate market,” added Tresidder. “With new construction, data in the MLS isn’t typically marked as ‘closed’ until the building’s certificate of occupancy is issued and pending reservations can be completed. That’s why this month shows an atypical number of Sarasota County condos sold, thus doubling the dollar volume this month.”
In Manatee County, the dollar volume (sum of the sale prices for all sales during the month) increased year-over-year by 27.1 percent for single-family homes and increased by 21.4 percent for condos. In Sarasota, the dollar volume increased by 28.7 percent for single-family homes and increased by 111.9 percent for condos.
The month’s supply of inventory reached a new high for 2023, surpassing any other month thus far. For single-family homes, the month’s supply of inventory in Sarasota increased year-over-year by 79.2 percent to a 4.3-month supply and increased by 13.3 percent to a 3.4-month supply in Manatee County. Sarasota condos increased by 133.3 percent to a 4.9-month supply, and Manatee condos increased by 63 percent to a 4.4-month supply.
The inventory of active listings is at its highest for the year, approaching the level of inventory that was present leading up to the pandemic. There were 7,444 active listings in the MSA at the end of November, a 53.8 percent increase from the same time last year and a 10.9 percent increase from the month prior. Broken down for each property type, there were 4,823 active listings for single-family homes and 2,621 active listings for condos in Sarasota and Manatee.
Pending sales, or the number of properties that went under contract during the month, increased yearover-year for both property types in Sarasota and Manatee. In Sarasota County, pending sales increased by 1.1 percent for single-family homes and by 21.3 percent for condos. In Manatee County, pending sales increased by 6.4 percent for single-family homes and 1.8 percent for condos.
At the end of the month, there were 2,600 new listings combined for both single-family homes and condos in the MSA, a 36.3 percent increase when compared to the previous year. For each property type, there were 1,668 new listings for single-family homes and 932 new listings for condos in the MSA.
Monthly reports are provided by Florida Realtors® with data compiled from Stellar MLS. For comprehensive statistics dating back to 2015, visit www.MyRASM.com/statistics.