MANATEE — Local real estate agents plan to hold more than 300 open houses this weekend in hopes of further stimulating Manatee County’s housing market.
The coordinated county-wide effort, called the Big Open House, is the first of its kind in Manatee, organizers said Wednesday.
“If you’re looking to buy a house, this is a good weekend to do it,” said Barry Grooms, president of the Manatee Association of Realtors. “The whole county is on sale.”
The two-day event also is sponsored by the Bradenton Herald/Lakewood Ranch Herald, which initiated and pitched the idea to the association, he said.
Agents will staff the open houses on Saturday and Sunday. The featured single-family houses and condominium units are scattered throughout Manatee and range in price from $100,000 to more than $1 million.
“The ultimate goal is to give as much exposure to and highlight homes in all price ranges, shapes and sizes,” Grooms said. “It’s all four corners of the county. Every price range is represented, every size, every type, including condos.”
The marketing push comes as the local housing market shows signs of slowing its three-year slide.
The Realtors group recently reported that single-family home sales rose by 6 percent from August to September and by 37 percent from September 2008. Investors and entry-level homebuyers are fueling the sales increase, largely by snapping up foreclosures and other distressed properties at deep discounts.
The median sales price — the point where half sold for more and half for less — rose from $175,000 in August to $180,000 last month, but still remained 25 percent below what it was last year, the association said.
“We hope to educate potential homebuyers out there that the market has stabilized in most areas,” said Howard Serena, an agent in Keller Williams of Manatee. “I know some people will say that’s just a load of propaganda, but it’s reality. Prices have stabilized and the figures are showing it.”
Agents also said they hope the two-day event gets potential buyers off the fence before an up-to-$8,000 federal tax credit on certain home purchases expires Nov. 30.
“We’ve got to do everything we can to push this recovery,” said Roberta Burish, another Keller Williams of Manatee agent.
Properties in the open house event will be advertised in the Herald’s real estate section on Saturday, as well as on the newspaper’s Web site (www.bradenton. com/real_estate) and www.homefinder.com.
An open house directory, with maps, also will be inserted in the Herald’s Saturday and Sunday editions.
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