Home Demand, Inventory Building Up in South County


 

SARASOTA, FLORIDA, May 11th, 2017 – More inventory becoming available is driving the home market higher in Punta Gorda, Port Charlotte, and North Port, according to Peter Rivera, president of the realtors’ association covering the south Sarasota County areas.

Rivera, in a recent media interview also attributed recent market gains in their territory to home buying ahead of foreseen hikes in interest rate and more buyers engaging the market following the election.

This steady rise in demand is fueling the inventory buildup. The head of the Punta Gorda-Port Charlotte-North Port Association of Realtors (PGPCNP) noted that its membership has seen inventory rise to a 5.2 months of supply in February from 3.9 months’ supply in August last year.

Boost from New Developments

Home Demand, Inventory Building Up in South County

The PGPCNP president expect that new developments like Babcock Ranch and the West Villages in South County will have a positive effect for the resale home market in the foreseeable future. Rivera noted that many of the prospective buyers in these communities are local homeowners who want to trade up.

These homeowners would eventually put their properties on the market, thus boosting inventory, the association president said. The newly built homes will also later hit the market as re-sales, he added.

Rivera also observed that their market territory is stabilizing after huge gains during the economic recover. PGPCNP members, he said, are not only seeing more home sellers wanting to trade up but also an increasing number of first-time home buyers. Rivera also shared that there are now fewer distressed properties coming on the market.

Market Hotspots

While inventory has increased steadily since last August in the PGPCNP market area, Rivera said that those gains have been absorbed as of this March. For Charlotte alone, sales of single family homes for the month leaped 24 percent from last year, higher than the 11.7 percent posted in Manatee and the 2.6 percent increase in Sarasota.

The PGPCNP head identified market listings below $150,000 as the hottest segment in their area currently. At this “hot” price range, one newly available property at the Bayshores community in Punta Gorda should draw multiple offers or be grabbed quickly amongst Charlotte homes for sale.

This three-bedroom residence with a floor area of 1,555 square feet was sales listed in late April with a tag price of $110,000. Another newly available Bayshores residence is offered at $115,000, featuring two bedrooms and two baths within a floor plan of about 1,100 square feet.

Another Project Set

In south Punta Gorda, meanwhile, a Naples developer is girding to recast plans for the 563-acre Tucker’s Grade development site it purchased for $6.5 million in April. This property is located off Exit 158 of Interstate 75 and has been approved for a maximum of 999 residences with 22 acres also set as commercial zone.

The new owner, Lely Development, is eying a revamp of the plans and construct as many as 2,400 homes with 50 acres allotted for commercial use. Price points of the residences would likely be between the $200s and the $400s, the developer said. The development’s first phase of transporting utilities to the site is expected to take up to a year to commence.