SARASOTA, FLORIDA, July 7th, 2017 – The draw of homeownership in Sarasota and Manatee continued to show strength in recent months, with earlier gains in single family home sales sustained for the fourth consecutive month in May.
Realtors’ recent statistics showed that closed deals on Sarasota homes for sale for May rose 8.7 percent to 822 units from 756 a year earlier. This is the strongest gain and the most number of homes sold in a month so far this year, following the advances ranging from 2.4 to 8.3 percent from February to April this year.
In Manatee, single family homes sold in May rose 2.8 percent to 625 units, also the largest number of total monthly sales so far this 2017. Sales of single family residences in the county advanced by as much as 11.7 percent in March.
A sustained rise in prices doesn’t appear to have any dampening effect on buying interest on Manatee homes for sale. In May, the median price of single family homes in the county was estimated at $299,000, up 7.8 percent from last year and already 53 percent above the end-2012 level.
The May median price of Sarasota homes for sale, on the other hand, eased to $260,000, a 1.1 percent decline from last year. This drop broke a string of price gains during the past 12 months of as much as 15.2 percent which was registered in November 2016.
A surge of new listings and inventory of single family homes for sale in Sarasota may have contributed to the easier prices in the county. New listings of available Sarasota residences in May rose 8.5 percent to 834 units. The month’s inventory of active listings improved by 13.2 percent to 2,982 units, for a 4.5-month supply of inventory which is 15.4 percent over the level a year earlier.
Market supply is likewise coming on strong in Manatee. New listings of available single family homes in the county rose 2.3 percent to 655 units in May during which inventory of active listings totaled 2,199, 6.4 percent above last year. A 4.3-month supply of inventory was also registered, up 4.9 percent from May 2016.
Better chances of getting a mortgage is a plus that could further help strengthen the residential property market in Manatee. The financial guidance website SmartAsset recently listed the county as the No. 2 amongst the best places to get a mortgage in Florida.
The website based the rankings on the number of mortgage applications and approvals in each county in the Sunshine State. Its analysis showed that 63.3 percent of mortgages in Manatee were approved, which compares with the 71.58 percent for top-ranking Sumter County. Sixth in the state was Sarasota County which posted a 61.52 percent approval rate.
Four factors were examined to come up with the rankings. These include ease of getting a mortgage, property tax rate, overall borrowing costs, and annual mortgage payments. The counties were rated in each of these and the results average to determine the overall rankings.
SARASOTA, FLORIDA, October 7, 2019 – Property values of communities in the Sarasota-Manatee region now face lesser threat from neighborhood eyesores brought about by abandoned, foreclosed homes. Known in the real estate trade as zombie foreclosures, these properties have shrunk significantly in the region. According to an August report of ATTOM Data Solutions, abandoned […] more>>