Home values continue to rise in Manatee, Sarasota

Home values continue to increase in Manatee and Sarasota counties, even as a strong close to the season gave way to a market that showed signs of cooling last month.

The median price for an existing single-family home in April in Manatee County was $295,000, a 5.4 percent increase from a year earlier, the Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee announced Wednesday.

In Sarasota County, the year-over-year median price jumped 9 percent to $272,500.

Sales were mostly flat in Manatee County, with a 1.5 percent increase from April 2016, while Sarasota County had a healthy 8.3 percent surge compared to a year earlier.

“This year’s season started slow in January, but picked up steam in February and March, leveling out again in April,” said Xena Vallone, the 2017 president of the Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee.

It’s evident that as prices continue to rise, potential buyers are becoming more discriminate in their search for a new home.

Case in point: In Manatee County, the time on the market for an existing single-family home increased from 38 days in April 2016 to 46 days last month. In Sarasota County, it went from 35 days a year earlier to 45 last month.

Inventory in the region remains tight, especially in the lower price ranges, though it is growing. Manatee County saw a 3.6 percent increase in year-over-year inventory in April, while Sarasota had a 12.3 percent jump.

“Higher inventory levels typically increase the time it takes to sell a property,” Vallone said. “However, that is not the case for more affordable price points. Single-family homes priced under $300,000 are going to contract more quickly than those priced higher.”

Without more homes for sale, “median prices will continue to rise due to demand,” said Florida Realtors president Maria Wells, who noted that sellers received 96.2 percent of their original listing price last month.

The statewide median sales price for an existing single-family home last month was $234,900, up 10.3 percent from the previous year, according to Florida Realtors research. That marked the 65th consecutive month that the statewide median price showed a year-over-year increase.

The region’s condo/townhome market took a hit last month, with year-over-year sales dropping 22 percent in Manatee County and 0.3 percent in Sarasota. The median price in Manatee County rose 2.1 percent to $170,500, but fell 1.4 percent to 215,000 in Sarasota.

The statewide median price for condo-townhome properties in April was $172,000, up 7.2 percent from a year earlier.

Supply squeeze hurts national sales

Across the country, Americans pulled back their pace of home-buying in April, slowed by shrinking inventories and rising prices.

The National Association of Realtors said that sales of existing single-family homes slipped 2.3 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.57 million. Still, a stable job market has supported solid demand from buyers as home purchases are 1.6 percent higher than a year ago.

The median sales price has risen 6 percent from a year ago to $244,800. But the sales volume of homes worth less than $250,000 has declined over the past year, while homes worth more than the median have experienced sales growth.

Sales declined last month in the Northeast, South and West, while rising in the Midwest.

Despite the sluggish report, National Association of Realtors chief economist Lawrence Yun believes sales of existing homes are poised to climb 3.5 percent in 2017.

“The housing market has exceeded expectations ever since the (November presidential) election, despite depressed inventory and higher mortgage rates,” Yun said. “The combination of the stock market being at record highs, 16 million new jobs created since 2010, pent-up household formation and rising consumer confidence are giving more households the assurance and ability to purchase a home.”

This story was originally published May 24, 2017 at 12:35 PM with the headline "Home values continue to rise in Manatee, Sarasota."