Why are home prices higher in the Bradenton area? Two factors are behind the change
As the Bradenton area enters the peak of the real estate market, buyers are finding record prices and a minuscule inventory.
For November, the median price for an existing single-family house rose 7.2 percent to $350,500, compared to the same month a year ago. The median price is the mid-point between the most expensive house and the least expensive house that sold during the month. A year ago, the median price was $327,000.
November saw 717 closed sales in the Bradenton area, compared to 511 a year ago, according to the Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee. The median time to contract was only 19 days, compared to 43 days a year ago.
Along with more buyers, available inventory plunged to a 1.6 month supply, compared to a 3.3 month supply a year ago. The Bradenton area remains solidly a sellers’ market. A balanced market is one with six months of inventory.
“We are getting into some uncharted waters,” Greg Owens, broker and operating principal of Keller Williams on the Water, said Tuesday. “I haven’t seen such low inventory going into season. This is the time that we would usually have more listings coming onto the market.”
New pending sales are one of the indicators that Owens looks at in assessing the market. In November, there were 622 of those, compared to 495 a year ago.
“If you are a buyer coming down here, I would want to pull the trigger sooner rather than later. The market could get even tighter,” Owens said.
The town house/condo market also strongly favors sellers in the Bradenton area. The median price was up 10.3 percent to $237,250 in November, compared to a year ago when the median was $215,040.
There were 332 Manatee County condo and town home sales in November, compared to 209 a year ago. Inventory fell from 4.2 months supply a year ago to a 2.3 months supply in November.
The picture was similar in Sarasota County.
The median price of existing single-family homes in Sarasota rose 19 percent to $349,695, compared to $293,750 a year ago, according to the Realtor association.
The 850 closed Sarasota sales in November, compared to 622 a year ago, went to contract in a median of 15 days, compared to 40 days a year ago.
Sarasota had 1.8 months of inventory of single-family homes in November, compared to 3.6 months a year earlier.
The Sarasota condo and town home market saw 422 sales in November, compared to 313 a year earlier, and the median price rose to $271,999, compared to $240,000 a year earlier.
Sarasota condo and town home inventory fell to a 2.9 month supply, compared to a 4.9-month supply a year earlier.
“As we reflect on 2020, the pandemic has reminded us just how important our homes are. Real estate is essential with a high demand from buyers right now and as Realtors we are so grateful to be able to continue serving our customers,” David Clapp, 2020 president of the Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee, said in a statement.
“The numbers in November are following the same trends seen throughout the last several months and we expect 2020 to exceed 2019 when the year-end data is released in the new year,” Clapp said.
“The really challenging issue from November’s data is that our months’ supply of inventory has declined to a new low of only 1.7 months for single-family homes and around 2.6 months for condos,” Clapp said.
This story was originally published December 22, 2020 at 11:28 AM with the headline "Why are home prices higher in the Bradenton area? Two factors are behind the change."
