Sarasota County Sales and Inventory Levels

At the beginning of 2009, it was hard to find any category of homes that didn't have at least 30 months of inventory in Sarasota County ( City of Sarasota, Longboat Key, Siesta Key, Venice, North Port, Nokomis, Osprey, northern part of Englewood, Casey Key, northern part of Manasota Key ). As 2009 closes out, there are dramatically different levels of inventory by category.

Overall there are 7,020 active listings today and there were 1,344 sales in the last 60 days for an inventory of 10.4 months.

Realtors generally consider that 6 months of inventory is a balanced market. Any number of months below 6 months is a sellers market, any number above 6 months is a buyers market. Overall Sarasota County is still a buyers market.

For Bank Owned Foreclosures there are 199 listings that are only 2 months of recent sales. This is definetly a sellers market. Multiple offers are normal and many listings sell over list price.

For single family homes priced under $300,000 there are 2,018 listings that are 5.7 months of sales. This market is essentially in balance and builders are starting new construction for this market.

For single family homes priced between $300,000 and $500,000 there are 774 listings that represent 13.9 months of sales. This market is still a buyers market.

For single family homes priced over $500,000 there are 1,126 listings that represent 31.7 months of sales. Condos over $500,000 have a similar level of months of inventory. These markets have not had any substantial recovery and are a very strong buyer's market.