Are Bradenton home prices starting to level off after skyrocketing? Here’s the latest
The first time existing single-family houses in the Bradenton area have ever sold for a median price of more than a half million dollars was in March, and now it’s happened again in April.
Even though prices are at an all-time high, Mark Boehmig, real estate agent with Michael Saunders & Company, says he believes he sees the beginning of a market shift.
Not necessarily in the median price, which was $515,000 in April, an increase of 27% from the same month last year, but in other metrics.
More homes are starting to go on the market, which should help alleviate the chronic shortage of inventory.
In January, there were 59 homes for sale in Lakewood Ranch ZIP codes. In February, there were 73. In March, there were 84, and in April there were 135. The trend is similar across Manatee County, he said.
In April of 2021, there was half a month of home inventory available in Manatee County. This April, there was four-fifths of a month of inventory, a small, but significant increase.
It’s still a long way from a balanced market — six months of inventory — that favors neither buyer nor seller.
“We’re not plateaued, but I can feel the market shifting. More people will be putting their homes on the market,” he said.
In April, there were 692 closed sales of single-family homes, including 299 all-cash deals, in the Bradenton area compared to 847 in the same month a year earlier, the Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee reported Thursday.
The median time from listing to contract was five days.
The market for Bradenton area townhouses and condos also remained strong in April with a 49% increase in the median selling price to $350,000.
The increase in inventory of single-family homes in April was the first year-over-year increase for the North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton area since May of 2019, the Realtor Asociation of Sarasota and Manatee reported.
“As we’ve been anticipating, it appears that the rising interest rates and inflation are beginning to put pressure on our local real estate market,” Realtor Association President Tony Veldkamp, a senior advisor at SVN Commercial Advisory Group, said in a press release.
“While we’re still seeing fewer pending and closed sales when compared to last year, we are starting to see an increase in new listings and the amount of inventory of homes and condos for sale.
“In fact, Sarasota County has its highest home inventory in 12 months, with its second month in a row of positive year-over-year increases. Sarasota County’s single-family home inventory has risen to a 1-month supply, the first time since January 2021, while Manatee County has risen to a 0.8-month supply,” Veldkamp said.
In Sarasota County, the median price for single-family houses in April rose 27% to $482,803, while the median for townhouses and condos rose 27% to $395,000.
This story was originally published May 19, 2022 at 12:13 PM.
