National Interest Mounts on Sarasota Lifestyle


 

Praises and national attention have been remarkably pouring on Sarasota and its region recently so much so that these plaudits stand to add more sheen to the market for residential properties in the area.

Just this March 2015, Coastal Living magazine named Sarasota as “Dream Town” for the month, describing it as “cultured, creative, and cool,” and declaring that it is “ready for prime time.” This publication, one of the prestigious brands of Time Inc., cited not only the midcentury modern homes of Sarasota but also its high-rise condominiums and a nascent architecture festival, the Sarasota MOD. Coastal Living, in its website, likewise came out with an eye-catching profile of Sarasota, citing the area’s vibrant harbor, exciting restaurant scene, and homegrown ballet, opera and theater companies.

Home-hunting feature

National Interest Mounts on Sarasota Lifestyle

This glowing review appeared not only a good pitch for Sarasota homes for sale. It may also have helped convince producers of HGTV cable network’s House Hunters program to do an episode on “Looking for a Home Near the Water in Sarasota, Florida.” This show, aired around this mid-April, chronicled the home-hunting quest of Sarasota couple Madeline and Ryan Chase who wound up purchasing a four-bedroom home in Colonial Oaks. Resale residences here are typically priced in the $200s-$300s range for three to four bedroom Sarasota homes for sale having floor areas of between 1,400 and 2,150 square feet.

Previously, a Siesta Key fantasy lagoon was also featured in HGTV’s “Amazing Water Homes.” This outstanding home feature of a two-pool combo with a spa overlooks Big Pass and south Lido Key’s spit of white sand beach. One of the pools basks amid a riot of bougainvillea, bamboo and other tropical plants and framed by a twisting, mature oak.

No. 1 beach ranking

A TripAdvisor review released in February 2015 likewise brought a potential buying stimulus for home offerings in the Sarasota real estate market. This popular online travel information resource named Siesta Key Beach as the travelers’ top choice in 2015, besting other leading bets in Florida and Hawaii.

This national adulation adds to other recent social readings and citations on the endearing Sarasota lifestyle. One of these is the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index which ranked the North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton area with the highest score among the 100 most populous U.S. communities. What carried the region to the top in this measurement was its strength in the physical, financial and social well-being elements considered in the index.

Baby boomers’ choice

Shifting focus on home market for retirees, Sarasota and its region likewise made a stellar ranking in TopRetirement.com’s “Where Baby Boomers Go to Find Their Best Place to Retire.” For this website’s 2015 ranking based on online visits, Sarasota emerged second, next only to Asheville, NC. Notably, Sarasota’s neighboring city of Venice came out third in the list, towing other Florida home buying destinations, Fort Myers and Naples, in the top 10.

Significantly, Venice was likewise one the choices in Forbes magazine’s “25 Best Places to Retire in 2014.” The criteria wherein the city excelled included costs of living and housing, weather, availability of health care, walk-ability, volunteering and post-retirement work potential.