2015 million-dollar home sales jump in Manatee-Sarasota
MANATEE -- One year after Manatee and Sarasota counties saw more $1 million-and-above priced homes sell in what many real estate agents believed was the peak, existing luxury home sales ratcheted up another notch in 2015.
Between the two counties, 590 single family homes in this price category sold during the year, eclipsing 2014's total of 512. The total represents about 3 percent of all existing home sales in the two-county area in 2015.
Sarasota County sales accounted for the bulk of the number, at 431. Sales of multimillion-dollar homes in Manatee County also improved year over year, jumping from 113 in 2014 to 159 this past year.
Featuring high-priced homes on property ranging from big, rural lots and downtown waterfront to riverside and island beach locations, the counties have become a destination for the well-heeled homebuyer in recent years. Christie's International Realty recently named Sarasota as one of the world's top small cities for buying luxury homes.
Such notice has built a reputation for the Sarasota-Manatee area. Linda Formella, president of the Realtor Association of Sarasota Manatee, said real estate agents and brokers in the luxury sector see demand coming from throughout the United States and abroad. Already in the first week of 2016 in the Bradenton branch of Michael Saunders & Co., a buyer from Sweden has expressed interest in buying a local home for more than $1 million.
Such interest spurred high-end homeowners to sell in 2015 and could again in 2016.
"I think the message is out that luxury buyers are back in the market," Formella said.
The past year saw its share of marquee sales in terms of how much buyers paid and who the buyers were. The highest price paid for a home in Manatee County was $5.625 million in May for a 6,000-square-foot beachfront estate at 5871 Gulf of Mexico Drive on Longboat Key.
During the same month, a home at 374 Shore Drive topped the charts in Sarasota County, going for $9 million.
Who was shelling out big money for homes?
Everyone from company CEOs to professional sports figures. In November, David M. Cote, Honeywell CEO, paid $4.1 million for 1.1 acres of vacant beachfront on the Gulf of Mexico on Anna Maria Island. The sale was the priciest for a lot on the island in 2015.
Earlier in the year, Green Bay Packers football player Bryan Bulaga and his wife, Abigail, purchased a home in The Concession for $2.4 million. Another professional athlete, Washington Nationals infielder Ian Desmond, bought in nearby Panther Ridge in November for $2.09 million.
Demand for luxury homes has not just been limited to the existing home market. Local homebuilders have reported high demand for new homes in the $1 million-plus category.
Jon Mast, CEO of the Manatee Sarasota Building Industry Association, said local custom builders including Nutter Custom Construction, Heritage Builders, Legacy Builders and Josh Wynne Construction have told him they have been flush with orders for custom homes.
"The overall atmosphere is excellent for the product," he said. "They are seeing a very strong market for that."
Formella said she and other real estate professionals in the area will get a good predictor of what 2016 holds for luxury sales by the end of January. She said she expects that people looking to sell their high-end homes will start doing so as the number of seasonal residents peak.
Matt M. Johnson, Herald business reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7027 or on Twitter@MattAtBradenton.
This story was originally published January 5, 2016 at 6:50 PM with the headline "2015 million-dollar home sales jump in Manatee-Sarasota ."