Manatee-Sarasota January existing home sales slump

MANATEE -- Cue the January residential real estate slump.

As they do every year, the Manatee and Sarasota housing markets saw a big drop in sales transactions between December and January, while market activity fell to its lowest levels in the past 12 months.

Coming off a record-setting sales year, last month's 1,278 home sales in the two counties was a 25 percent drop after an unusually busy December.

Existing home sales in Sarasota and Manatee counties in 2015 totaled 20,691, the highest in a century.

But unlike some past years, selling prices remained high even as volume dipped. Linda Formella, president of the Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee said those high volumes and robust market projections for the next few months, have her and other real estate professionals optimistic.

Already, she said, she has seen the number of pending contracts tick upwards in February at the Bradenton real estate office she manages for Michael Saunders & Co.

January is a special case as Christmas and New Year's typically hit the pause button for many transactions.

"At some point in time agents, buyers and sellers take a breather for the holidays," Formella said.

Sarasota County saw existing single family sales bump up 1.2 percent to 520 from the same time last year. To

tal condo sales of 217 were down 5.2 percent. In Manatee County, single-family homes dropped 5.4 percent to 385 total sales versus January 2015, but condo sales gained 2.6 percent with 156 transactions.

The prices of what sold stayed on the rise. That was particularly true in Manatee County, where the median selling price for single-family homes hit a five-year high of $274,900.

That was up slightly over December and up 10 percent from the same time last year. Condo prices also jumped 6.3 percent year-over-year to $169,950.

In Sarasota County, single-family home prices were down slightly from a five-year peak in December, but were up 21.3 percent from the previous year to $230,500. Condo prices were up 17.8 percent, hitting $218,000.

Local selling trends were largely in line with the statewide picture. Closed sales of single family homes in Florida totaled 16,529 last month, up 2.7 percent from one year ago.

In the townhouse and condo market, the 6,942 January sales were down 4.8 percent from the same month in 2015. The median price for an existing single-family home statewide was $199,000 for the month.

Competition for buyers is heating up in the two-county area as builders put more new inventory on the market.

Local real estate experts have said throughout the year that they want to see existing home inventories increase.

January saw the single-family inventory rise to a 4.5-month supply and condo availability hovering between 4.8 and 5.1 months in Manatee and Sarasota counties.

New home inventory could eventually become a factor in these supplies. Last weekend, the annual Parade of Homes of Manatee and Sarasota Counties kicked off its annual two-week run. The 110 new homes featured in the event are part of a month-and-a-half's worth of available new inventory in the area said Jon Mast, CEO of parade organizer the Manatee-Sarasota Building Industry Association.

As in the existing home market, that's not enough to satisfy customer demand.

"Market demand is very strong for new home product," Mast said. "So much so that our builders cannot keep up with building product."

With the expectations of demand for all types of housing to remain high, statewide professional organization Florida Realtors noted that the past year has seen mortgage rates inch up.

According to Freddie Mac, the interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.87 percent in January 2016, up from the 3.67 percent average recorded during the same month a year earlier.

Those rates are near historic lows, according to the organization, and are expected to boost buying power in the still-accelerating housing market.

Matt M. Johnson, Herald business reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7027 or on Twitter @MattAtBradenton.

This story was originally published February 23, 2016 at 11:59 PM with the headline "Manatee-Sarasota January existing home sales slump ."