Housing prices hitting levels not seen since before the Great Recession

The median sales price for single-family homes sold in Manatee County in January was $300,145, up 7.6 percent from a year ago.

It was the second time the median price for Manatee County home sales cracked $300,000 since the Great Recession in 2008, according to figures released Wednesday by the Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee.

The median price, the midrange of homes sold in Manatee County home, hit $317,500 in December.

Also, the 399 single-family home sales in Manatee County in January were an increase of 12.7 percent from a year earlier.

“The increase in home sales and prices is a good indicator of a strong housing market in Manatee and Sarasota,” Greg Owens, president of the Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee, said in a press release. “This trend continues to show economic strength and positive growth to our area.”

While the sales of single-family housing continued to increase in January, the sale of townhouses and condominiums fell from 167 in January a year ago to 160 and the median price dropped 1.4 percent to $172,500.

In Sarasota County, single-family home sales increased 9.5 percent to 519 closed sales, and the median price was $275,900, up 10.4 percent from a year ago.

Sarasota County condo sales increased sharply to 326, up 31.5 percent, although the median price fell slightly – less than 1 percent – to $238,000.

Single-family housing inventory was tight at the start of the year, showing a 2.1 percent decrease in Manatee County from January 2017 and a 7.6 percent decrease in Sarasota County.

Across the state

Statewide, sales of single-family homes totaled 16,564 last month, down 1.3 percent compared to January 2017, according to Florida Realtors research.

The statewide median sales price for existing single-family homes was $240,000, up 9.1 percent from the previous year, according to data from the Florida Realtors Research Department.

The statewide median price for condo-townhouse properties in January was $179,900, up 11.7 percent year over year.

Across the nation

Nationally, existing home sales fell 3.2 percent in January, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Existing-home sales slumped for the second consecutive month and experienced their largest decline on an annual basis in more than three years, according to the National Association of Realtors.

All major regions saw monthly and annual sales declines last month.

The median existing-home price for all housing types in January was $240,500, up 5.8 percent from January 2017 ($227,300). January’s increase marked the 71st straight month of year-over-year gains.

“Another month of solid price gains underlines this ongoing trend of strong demand and weak supply. The underproduction of single-family homes over the last decade has played a predominant role in the current inventory crisis that is weighing on affordability,” said Lawrence Yun, the chief economist for the National Association of Realtors.

“However, there’s hope that the tide is finally turning. There was a nice jump in new home construction in January and homebuilder confidence is high. These two factors will hopefully lay the foundation for the building industry to meaningfully ramp up production as this year progresses,” Yun said.

This story was originally published February 21, 2018 at 12:05 PM with the headline "Housing prices hitting levels not seen since before the Great Recession."