Sarasota Offers More Choices for New Homes


 

Home buyers who prefer new construction will find the choices more plentiful in Sarasota and Manatee. Preliminary research data from Metrostudy showed that from April to June of 2014, builders officially started the construction process on 988 new homes in the two counties. This represents a 19.6% improvement from the first three months of 2014 and an 8.9% increase from the same three-month period in 2013. This pace goes on record as the fastest clip achieved after the Great Recession.

The home construction gains in Sarasota and Manatee were in sharp contrast with the marked declines elsewhere in the U.S. which dragged national housing statistics to a nine-month low. U.S. Census Bureau records showed that residential building permits in June slid to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 963,000, down 4.2% from May. On the same month-to-month comparison, housing starts fell even deeper at 9.3% to 893,000 units.

Factors weighed in

Sarasota Offers More Choices for New Homes

The slump in June 2014 housing construction was most pronounced in the South where a 29.6% decline to 375,000 was registered. This pace in the Southern U.S. was the weakest in nearly two years and wiped out construction advances elsewhere in the country. Some analysts attributed the South’s poor showing to the unusually wet conditions of the past winter.

The robust home construction gains in Sarasota and Manatee, on the other hand, were stimulated by the resurgence of baby boomers’ migration to the two counties, homebuilding industry watchers say. A shortage of realtor listings was also cited as an added stimulus, in addition to rising home values which narrowed the gap between buying new construction and resale homes. Home affordability of Southwest likewise remains generally favorable, even as rising mortgage rates and uncertainty in the labor front continue to hound the market.

Why new construction?

A lot of home buyers prefer new construction because they are averse at revamping the original homeowners’ interiors and landscaping. What they want instead are the residential features which are best suited to their tastes and preferences.

Having an experienced broker with a wide-ranging knowledge of new local property developments would be the most logical approach for buyers’ search of newly constructed homes. One very helpful facility is the listing of new communities that Sarasota Bay Real Estate has compiled to help identify available newly built homes at various price ranges.

It is important to have such a reference in a search for newly constructed Sarasota homes for sale. The starting prices quoted by builders, for one thing, have to be examined carefully. It is rare for builders to make available those homes which are priced at the bottom of their starting price range.

Analyzing prices

Typically, what the builders want is for buyers to upgrade at the maximum amount they are approved or budgeted for. The home models buyers often see are basic construction stripped down of upgrades. The buyers will be enticed with upgrades on these homes which they “cannot live out.”

As in other marketing strategies, builders egg buyers to push outside of the envelope and consider the home models at their higher price end. Some builders may even offer incentives, such as their own financing for upgrades. Having an expert realtor should help buyers better analyze values of newly built houses and compare the various incentives which may be offered by other builders.