Bradenton among nation’s top markets for home buyers seeking relief from crowded cities
It’s no surprise to local real estate agents that home buyers from non-traditional markets are making their way in droves to the Bradenton-Sarasota area.
Now, a study by CoreLogic, a property information and analytics provider, confirms that the region is among the hottest metro areas in the nation. Bradenton-Sarasota ranks 14th on the “hottest” list where new residents are flocking to buy homes and move in. Riverside, California, was ranked No. 1.
Florida regions ranking high on the “hottest” list include Tampa-St. Pete at No. 5, Port St. Lucie at No. 6, Jacksonville at No. 7, Deltona-Daytona Beach at No. 9, and Cape Coral-Fort Myers at No. 12.
The report also identifies the metros experiencing the greatest flight of residents.
New York-Newark-Jersey City lead the list of areas losing the most residents, followed by No. 2 Los Angeles, No. 3 San Francisco, No. 4 San Jose, and No. 5 Washington, D. C. The only Florida metro to make the top 10 for out-migration is Miami-Fort Lauderdale at No. 6.
Cindy Greco, a broker-associate with Wagner Realty in Bradenton, said her company has had several buyers from California, although West Coast buyers have not historically been among traditional buyers here.
“People are taking early retirement because of the pandemic. People are working remotely, and some have reached the emotional trigger that life is short,” Greco said of the decision to make such a big move.
Mark Boehmig, a real estate agent with Michael Saunders & Company, said his firm has had several buyers from California and Washington state.
The pandemic, the cost-of-living, high taxes and wildfires all played a role in helping some of the West Coast residents make the move to Florida, he said.
The CoreLogic report said a mix of events during the pandemic, including flexible work policies, low federal interest rates and increased need for financial savings, led to a mass migration away from crowded, expensive metro areas.
“The pandemic created a perfect recipe for consistently employed Americans,” said Archana Pradhan, CoreLogic’s principal economist.
“If it had been any other mix of events, for example, if low housing inventory was coupled with job inflexibility, we wouldn’t have had such a large group of home-buying consumers feeling empowered to make bold moves in their living situations,” Pradhan said.
In the over-heated Bradenton-Sarasota housing market, the prices for new and existing single-family houses have soared. The market, where the available inventory of homes is minuscule with less than a month’s supply, strongly favors sellers. A balanced market favoring neither seller nor buyer is one with an inventory of a six-month supply of homes.
In June, the median price for existing single-family homes in the Bradenton area was $405,305. There were 830 closed sales, compared to 668 in the same month a year earlier, the Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee previously reported.
The median price is the exact midpoint between the most expensive and the least expensive homes sold.
Lakewood Ranch, Manatee County’s largest master-planned community, has played a significant role in making the Bradenton-Sarasota housing market one of the hottest in the United States.
Lakewood Ranch had 1,535 new home sales through the end of June, making it the No. 1 best selling community in the United States.
