Bright Year Looms for Luxury Home Sales


 

Recent market activity in residences priced over $1 million indicates that 2015 can very well be another bright year for sales of luxury homes in Sarasota and Manatee counties. The brisk market pace has been felt as early the first six months of 2014 in Sarasota. Overall luxury home sales in the county during that period rose year over year by 21% to 218 closed deals.

For the first quarter of 2015, MLS data indicate that deals closed on luxury Sarasota homes for sale already totaled 120 properties, with gains consistently on the uptrend for single family residences priced above the $1 million mark. Price-wise, a four-bedroom beachfront estate home with a floor area of 8,395 square feet topped sales for the three-month period. This residence, which is located at the Sanderling Club subdivision and had a listed price of $6.45 million, was sold in end-March for $5.5 million.

Nonetheless, what could very well be a strong contender for the record high home sale this year was that of 10,883-square-foot, five-bedroom grand estate mansion at Sapphire Shores. This property, sales-listed at $12.5 million was sold in early April 2015 for a little over $9 million.

Manatee on a roll too

Bright Year Looms for Luxury Home Sales

Sales activity is as robust in the luxury segment of the Manatee real estate market. From January to March 2015, 132 properties priced over $1 million were sold, as per recent MLS statistics. The number of single family homes, condos and townhouses sold in the county were for the most part on the rise during the three-month period.

For this quarter, a deal in north Longboat Key at the posh Positano development may turn out as one of the highest residential condo sale in Manatee in recent years. A three-bedroom unit in this property was sold in February of 2015 for $3.5 million after only just three months on the MLS listing of Manatee condos for sale. This 3,123-square-foot condo is the epitome of luxury, flaunting its exclusive elevator, a private pool, a 1,500-square-foot terrace, two-and-a-half-car garage, and $470,000 worth of furnishings.

Abundant new listings

A spate of new listings of luxury residences appears to have been encouraged by the heightened activity in the upscale residential property segment. At Sarasota’s Laurel Park, for instance, a three-bedroom single family home with a floor area of 2,449 square feet was listed in April with an asking price of $1.15 million. Built in 2012 in a historic residential district, this residence is Gold LEED-certified for its strict conformance to green building standards.

For newly listed luxury Sarasota condos for sale, a rarely available penthouse in Siesta Key’s Marina del Sol was also placed in the market in April with an asking price approaching $1.6 million. This prime condo unit has three bedrooms and three baths and half within its floor area of 3,012 square feet, and provides spectacular views of both Sarasota Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. It is within walking distance to the pristine white beaches of Siesta Key which by and large contribute much in sustaining the market strength of residential properties in Sarasota as well as those in Manatee.