Spring Fever

Everywhere you look, spring has sprung throughout Southwest Florida.  From the vibrantly-colored Royal Poinciana and Jacaranda Trees—to the intoxicating fragrance of orange blossoms on the breeze—Mother Nature always seems to save her best handiwork for the Sunshine State. As everyone who lives in Florida full time knows, there are several other undeniable signs of spring far less rooted in nature.  Traffic thins, parking spaces become available when and where you need them; and fully-engorged car carriers are transporting their cargo back north.  Soon you will be able to slip back into your favorite restaurant without a reservation and be greeted like a long lost friend. Our Most Active Home Selling Season The conclusion of Southwest Florida’s busiest season, however, in no way spells a slowdown for home sales throughout the region.  Unlike tourism, our local housing market experiences no seasonal lull between the end of winter and beginning of summer.  In fact, just the opposite is true.  Spring is our most active home selling season of the year—and by a very sizeable margin. Last year, for example, home sales throughout Sarasota County in April, May and June outpaced January, February and March by a full 27%.  Similar margins held true in 2012 and for several years prior to that.  (Source:  Trendgraphix) Meanwhile, from coast to coast, this spring’s home buying season is predicted to be one of the most active in recent years.  For even as our Southwest Florida winters are customarily warm and sunny, much of the country is just now shaking off the paralyzing cold, snow and ice that have held it in its grip since late last fall. A Spring Surge As seasoned market watchers are predicting, with winter-weary buyers and sellers at last able to act on weather-deferred housing goals, home sales nationwide are poised for a major spring surge.  Moreover, growing apprehension about rising interest rates has all who need mortgages scrambling to lock-in an advantageous rate and find their next home as quickly as possible. The major spring holidays of Passover and Easter are typically the calendar’s line of demarcation between the winter and spring home buying seasons in Southwest Florida.  Thus, if you are planning to sell your home in 2014, placing your property on the market now with an agent from Michael Saunders & Company will position it before the largest block of buyers expected this year. By the same token, if you are planning to purchase a property this spring you will be among the first group of buyers in nearly two years to enjoy the broadest range of choices.  As of the latest reading, overall inventories have risen 12.5% over this time last year; and the market now enjoys a 6.1-month inventory of homes for sale, compared with 5.1 a year ago. The Happiest, Healthiest and Sunniest of Springs We at Michael Saunders & Company wish you and yours the happiest, healthiest and sunniest of springs.  For our many friends up north, it has certainly been a long time coming; and is richly deserved. We would also like to take this opportunity to extend our heartfelt thanks to all who have entrusted their real estate goals to agents from Michael Saunders & Company thus far this year. Whether you have already bought or sold a home—or are planning to during our highly active spring season—we are grateful that you chose our four decades of local market expertise as your roadmap to success.