The Sarasota-Bradenton area real estate market has experienced a “market correction,” with conditions now more similar to those before the COVID-19 pandemic than the heightened buying frenzy that began after the health crisis subsided, with bidding wars and record prices, according to a report on July sales.
The Realtors Association of Sarasota and Manatee’s latest monthly report noted that both counties experienced a “cooling off of market activity” in July, suggesting that properties remained on the market longer than usual over the past three years.
Other signs that the housing market has fully returned to pre-COVID levels include the number of homes on the market being above 2019 levels and a decline in the average price of a home sold. Prices for homes just coming on the market are also declining.
Despite the less than rosy statistics, real estate professionals see the return to a balanced market as a good thing, as it will give buyers more leverage and require sellers to be more realistic when setting prices.
Previous reporting: Sarasota-Manatee condo market collapses while single-family home prices remain high
“The market is returning to what it was before the pandemic, and while it may seem like things are cooling down, that’s actually a good thing,” said Tony Barrett, president of the 2024 Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee and brokerage owner of Barrett Realty. “This means we’re in a more balanced market, which is good news for both buyers and sellers.”
In July, property owners in Sarasota County sold 642 single-family homes, up 1.4% from July 2023. This suggests that demand for real estate has not slowed down, even though the median sales price of a single-family home fell 12.1% to $470,000, according to the RASM report.
The average sales price in Sarasota County also fell by 2.1% to around $679,000.
While Sarasota has seen a modest decline in single-family home prices, the number of properties for sale has increased dramatically, skyrocketing to 3,068 single-family homes for sale in Sarasota County – a 59.5% increase when comparing July 2023 to July 2024.
The average time to sell a home in Sarasota County has risen to 94 days, the highest since the pandemic began after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis imposed a stay-at-home order in April 2020.
Closing times for property sales increased, meaning that the full impact of the lockdown was not felt until June and July 2020, when the time to sale was over 100 days.
Sarasota and Manatee counties typically see quieter markets in the summer as the number of days to sell typically increases, but other than the spike in July and June 2020, this is the longest time it has taken for the average property in Sarasota County to sell since June 2019.
Manatee County’s single-family homes saw a larger increase in closed sales than Sarasota, up 9.9% compared to July 2023, with 686 homes sold in July 2024. Still, the median home price fell 3.3% to $499,000. The average sales price increased 3% to about $661,000, according to RASM statistics.
At the end of July, there were a total of 2,488 single-family homes for sale in Manatee County, an increase of 55.2% from July 2023. It will take longer to sell a property in Manatee County, as the average home sold in 100 days in July.
In both Sarasota and Manatee counties, median sales prices in the townhome and condo market declined. In Sarasota County, 285 multifamily homes were sold, with the median sales price being $365,000 – a 6.3% decrease from July 2023.
In Manatee County, there were 225 completed sales in July, with the median sales price of these sales decreasing 6% compared to July 2023. The median sales price in Manatee County for a townhome or condo was $329,000.
