Manatee home values continue to decline

BRADENTON — With the exception of Anna Maria Island, home values across Manatee County continued to decline in June, according to statistics released Monday by real estate tracker Zillow.com

Home values in the Sarasota metro market, which includes Manatee and Sarasota counties and with their cities and neighborhoods, fell to $150,200 in June, a .3 percent decline from May and 4.4 percent drop from a year ago.

Home values in the United States declined 3.2 percent from June 2009 to $182,500 in June 2010, according to Zillow.com.

“As the national housing market limps toward stabilization, individual markets are a mixed bag,” said Stan Humphries, chief economist for Zillow.com. “High supply continues to be a challenge in states like Florida and Arizona.”

Manatee County, too, is seeing a mix of rising and falling home values.

South Bradenton saw the biggest month-to-month decrease, a 2.5 percent drop in value. Bayshore Gardens in southern Manatee County had the longest streak of decline, sliding for the 50th straight month and Anna Maria and Holmes Beach saw the most improvement, both seeing a 1.9 percent increase in value.

“Short sales and foreclosures are definitely impacting the market,” said Cindy Greco, president of the Manatee Association of Realtors. “It’s few and far between that you see a neighborhood that’s not affected by our distressed properties.”

Home values in Bayshore Gardens have been in a free fall since April 2006. The average value of a Bayshore Gardens home in April 2006 was $177,700. For June, Zillow reported the average value at $84,000, a 52 percent decrease.

While Zillow’s report shows Sarasota market home values have declined since January, the Manatee Association of Realtors sales report shows median sales prices have fluctuated on sales and new listings.

Katie Curnutte, spokeswoman for Zillow.com, said median sales prices are often influenced by the type of home being sold in a particular month.

“If you have higher-end homes selling or listing quicker in one month, the median sales price is going to reflect a higher price,” Curnutte said.

Meanwhile, home values continue to rise on Anna Maria Island. Zillow reported Anna Maria and Holmes Beach saw its fifth straight month of value increases, rising to $458,100 and $364,600 respectfully. Bradenton Beach home values increased .1 percent from May to June, rising for a fourth straight month to $231,200.

John van Zandt, a Realtor for Island Real Estate of Anna Maria Island, Inc., said he’s cautiously optimistic about the latest trends Zillow is reporting for the island.

Island Real Estate reported the average sales price of residential home in July was $532,083, up from the average sales price of $389,083 in June.

“We’re starting to see mixed results, meaning in some cases a little bump in price or average price per square foot,” Van Zandt said. “It will take more consistent results over time to show valid improvement.”