Yes, home prices are still rising in Manatee-Sarasota region

Home prices across the Manatee-Sarasota region climbed nearly 5 percent year-over-year in June.

That’s the good news.

Somewhat sobering news: For the second consecutive month, home values in the two-county region trailed gains accumulated across the state and nation.

According to figures released Tuesday by real estate researcher CoreLogic, home prices in the Bradenton-Sarasota area jumped 4.6 percent in June, a healthy increase but below gains enjoyed across Florida (6.1 percent) and the country (6.7 percent).

“Home prices are marching ever higher, up almost 50 percent since the trough in March 2011,” Frank Martell, the president and CEO of CoreLogic, said in a news release.

Home values in both counties have been on a steady climb since the market began to recover in 2012 but remain well off their peaks of a decade ago before the housing market crashed.

According to the Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee, the median sales price for an existing single-family home in June was $297,750 in Manatee County and $275,000 in Sarasota County.

Moreover, look for that surge to continue, especially in the Sunshine State, with CoreLogic projecting home values in Florida will increase 6.4 percent during the next year. Nationwide, the projection is 5.2 percent.

“With no end to the escalation in sight, affordability is rapidly deteriorating nationally,” Martell said. “While low mortgage rates are keeping the market affordable from a monthly payment perspective, affordability will likely become a much bigger challenge in the years ahead until the industry resolves the housing supply challenge.”

That is especially true locally, with Manatee County and Sarasota County having a 4.2-month and 4.3-month supply of single-family homes for sale, respectively, in June, according to RASM. The balanced benchmark is 5.5 months.

“The growth in sales is slowing down, and this is not due to lack of affordability but rather a lack of inventory,” CoreLogic chief economist Frank Nothaft said. “As of the second quarter in 2017, the unsold inventory as a share of all households is 1.9 percent, which is the lowest second-quarter reading in over 30 years.”

At 6.1 percent, Florida ranked 11th nationally in year-over-year growth. Washington (12.7 percent) and Utah (10.7 percent) were the only states with double-digit increases.

Alaska (0.6 percent) was the lone state where prices fell.

This story was originally published August 1, 2017 at 2:17 PM with the headline "Yes, home prices are still rising in Manatee-Sarasota region."