Sales up in Sarasota-area housing market

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For the second month in a row, homes sales in Southwest Florida bucked a national decline, but the region saw pricing erode for the first time in months.


Sales were up 30 percent in the Sarasota-Bradenton market and 12 percent in Charlotte County-North Port compared with a year ago.

While January's median sales price in the Sarasota-Bradenton market was up 8 percent to $156,700 from $144,800 a year ago, the most recent price was down 6.4 percent from $167,400 in December, data released Friday by Florida Realtors showed.

There was a similar trend to the south.

The Charlotte County-North Port market saw January prices rise 3 percent to $102,100 from $99,500 a year ago, but decline 8.6 percent from $111,800 in December.

The main driver for the sales increases lies with the federal tax credit for both first-time and existing homebuyers looking to move up, experts said.