MARKET UPDATE:
APRIL SALES RESULTS SOLIDIFY
AN ENCOURAGING TREND

The lead headline from a recent issue of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune screamed boldly from the newsstand. “Local Real Estate Market Perks Up,” it shouted; proving for yet another month that confident buyers from all over are jumping off the fence whenever and wherever they detect exceptional value. At the same time, activity in this market clearly demonstrates that all real estate is local in nature and not always reflective of national trends. For even as year-over-year sales of existing homes dropped by one percent nationwide in April—and by nine percent in Florida—three markets along the Gulf Coast, Sarasota-Manatee being the largest, defied both trends by posting noteworthy gains.

In Sarasota-Manatee, sales were up five percent over April of last year, while in Port Charlotte/Punta Gorda/North Port year-over-year sales rose six percent. As good as that was, the news got better. In Sarasota-Manatee rising sales were accompanied by rising prices and pending sales were equally strong; suggesting sustained momentum for the market’s continued rebound. As well, the median price for a home in Sarasota-Bradenton was 12 percent higher in April than it was the month before.

Sarasota-Manatee, along with its Gulf Coast neighbors, Ft. Myers and Port Charlotte/Punta Gorda/North Port were the only Florida markets—in addition to Ft. Pierce-Port St. Lucie on the East Coast—to record positive year-over-year sales. With 743 single-family homes changing hands, Sarasota-Manatee continued to outsell markets many times its size. In Miami, sales dropped 47 percent with only 281 homes sold. Ft. Lauderdale sold only 518 homes.

April’s median prices in Sarasota-Manatee were 11 percent lower than they were for a year ago. Still, the year-over-year comparisons point to nine consecutive months in which Sarasota Manatee prices have stabilized in a range of about $240,000 to $270,000. They have risen by nearly nine percent since January.

In Sarasota, according to the Sarasota Association of Realtors, home sales for April 2008 stood at 567—the highest level in 10 months—and approximately 72 percent higher than sales in January, 2008. At the same time, April’s inventory of single-family homes, now at 9,830, was also paring down—compared to 10,443 in April 2007. Clearly offers are being made and sellers are accepting them on homes with prices not seen since before the boom years.

As well, the April 2008 report reflect continued strength in pending sales, which stood at 765, the highest level in the past year. In April 2007, pending sales were only at 609, but have been edging upward since December 2007, when only 374 were reported. Pending sales are strong indicators of closings to come.

Sarasota-Manatee being one of the first markets to see prices shoot up wildly—driven upwards by unhealthy speculation during the boom—has also been among the first in Florida to correct backwards to pre-boom prices. This, no doubt, explains why ours is one of only four markets in the state to show rising sales and an equally robust level of pending sales.

In hindsight, we’ve probably experienced the long awaited bottoming of the market. That conclusion even the newspaper reached. And while we may float above the bottom for as long as it takes to rid ourselves of plenty of excess inventory, we are at least finally in a place where we are looking down at the bottom and not up from it.