SARASOTA, Fla. (October 19, 2023) – Amidst the lingering impacts of Hurricane Ian’s disruption to Florida’s housing market last September, the latest data from Florida REALTORS® paints a contrasting picture for September 2023. While closed sales registered an unusually high year-over-year growth, median prices stayed relatively stable.
In stark contrast to an irregular report caused by disruption from Hurricane Ian in September 2022, this September marked a striking departure, with remarkably high year-over-year increases in closed sales. However, the number of closed sales this month hovers around the same level of sales as the two previous months. The total number of closed sales across the North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton MSA was 1,770 in September, a 40.1 percent increase from last year and a 0.7 percent decrease from last month.
Median sale prices in September decreased slightly across all markets except for condos in Manatee County. For single-family homes, the median sale price in Sarasota decreased year-over-year by 0.7 percent to $494,000 and decreased by 2.6 percent to $503,495 in Manatee County. In the condo market, prices in Sarasota decreased by 1.1 percent to a median $395,750, while Manatee County condos increased by 3.9 percent to $350,000.
“Despite the current market fluctuations, median sale prices in Sarasota and Manatee counties remain relatively stable,” said Brian Tresidder, 2023 RASM President and Strategic Growth & Sales Manager at William Raveis Real Estate. “Home prices are maintaining their value and only experiencing a marginal decrease from previous highs.”
Combined for both property types in the MSA, there were 5,886 active listings at the end of September, a 35.4 percent increase from the same time last year and a 7 percent increase from the month prior. Across the two-county region, there were 3,920 active listings reported for single-family homes and 1,966 listings reported in the condo market.
Notably, Sarasota County reported the highest months’ supply of inventory in 2023, with a 3.5-month supply for single-family homes and a 3.8-month supply for condos. These figures reflect year-over-year increases of 66.7 percent and 137.5 percent, respectively. In Manatee County, single-family home supply increased by 7.4 percent to a 2.9-month supply, while condo supply increased by 73.7 percent to a 3.3- month supply.
At the end of September, there were 2,214 new listings combined for both single-family homes and condos in the MSA, a month-over-month decrease by 2 percent. There were 1,545 new listings for singlefamily homes, representing a slight 2.9 percent decrease compared to the previous month. In the condo market, 669 new listings in September showed no change from the previous month, indicating a somewhat static trend.
“The real estate market in the North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton MSA is a constant ‘tug-of-war’ between new listings and pending sales,” said Tresidder. “This dynamic is contributing to a slow but steady rise in the month’s supply of inventory.”
The number of properties that went under contract this month increased from the previous year. In Sarasota, pending sales for single-family homes increased by 8.2 percent year-over-year, and increased by 8 percent in Manatee. For condos, pending sales increased year-over-year by 7.1 percent in Sarasota and by 11 percent in Manatee. When compared to last month, pending sales decreased by 7.3 percent for condos and by 12.3 percent for single-family homes.
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.