Sarasota Real Estate Market Update for
December 2012
Earlier this year we called the bottom of the Sarasota Real Estate market. Buyers who bought are enjoying the beginning of market appreciation. What we missed in our April call was the national media attention pointing out the real estate market is booming. This news caused the annual updraft in homes sold to occur in September of this year vs. February as the past two years have shown.
Number of Sales Up
Sales bottomed in October this season with 687 total units which was ahead of the past two years lows of 673 and 596. Consistent with the average and average price per square foot, the seasonal surge came early this year in October vs. February of 2011 and 2010.
Prices are stronger
The seasonal low in prior years occurred in the January-March time frame. The earlier cycle this year caused an 8% increase if the bottom average price ($218,042 vs. $237,368). December 2012 sales came in at 927 units vs. 2011’s 710 which represents a 30% increase in unit sales. Much of this increase is due to the earlier surge in home buying.
Price per Square foot continues to trend upward.
December 2012 sales price per sqaure foot came in 11.4% higher with a $136/sq.ft. price vs. 2011’s $122/sq.ft. The upward slope from September’s low indicates a trend is most likely forming after 4 months of a steady upward movement. This season’s low of $125.50/sq.ft. price is ahead of last season’s $121.34/sq.ft or a 3.4% increase of seasonal lows. What is also interesting is the seasonal rise has occurred three months earlier than the past two seasons (2011 and 2010) which is consistent with the upward average price move.
Foreclosures Flat
Despite the national news stating a large push for foreclosures, Sarasota is not showing any real participation in either foreclosure filings or sales. While numbers are ahead of levels encountered during the “robo-signing” mess, levels continue to be half of what they were in 2010. With only 207 foreclosures on the market out of the 4,500 homes on the market at the time of this post, they only represent 4.6% of the active market and 13.6% of all closed sales for 2012.
The Longer Term Picture
The annual Sarasota Real Estate Market we put together show that over the longer term, the bottom is in. Sales have continues to rise since 2007 and over the past three years, the average price and price per square foot have also risen. Confirmation of the short term and long term trends confirm the bottom is in.
Conclusions
In many market segments, the challenge has been finding homes for sale for buyers in the market. Our prediction of a market bottom last year has been shown to be correct based on our analysis of today’s market trends. Despite market conditions, Sarasota is still one of the crown jewels of Florida and will always be an attractive destination for buyers of real estate. What we see if the end of downward trend with several key indicators showing the beginning of an upward trend. Conservative investors will always wait to see a solid bottom before jumping in. We believe the market has bottomed and showing a consistent upward movement. Yes, we think the market is saying “buy now.”
John Woodward
Broker/Owner
Sarasota Real Estate Group
Related Posts
