Area homes under contract near 12-month high - Sarasota Real Estate

Sarasota Herald Tribune wrote yesterday about Sarasota's active real estate market. Link to the article - Area homes under contract near 12 month high. I was fortunate enough to be quoted in the article.

Area homes under contract near 12-month high

?

Residential real estate may still be soft in some places nationally, but not in Sarasota and Manatee counties.

The number of completed home sales fell a bit in February, according to new figures from local Realtor associations, but the number of homes under contract ? the best indicator of current home-sales activity ? rose to nearly a 12-month high.

Prices are rising, too.

The new numbers are a good sign for the Gulf Coast economy, where for decades the state of the real estate market has often determined the economic health of the region. It is a marked change from even the end of last year. In January buyers seemed to come to life and in February, agents say, the activity at times seemed frenetic.

"We are sometimes having three offers on a property, which is really incredible," said Ron Cornette, marketing manager for Wagner Realty in Bradenton. "We haven't seen that since '04-'05."

So-called "pending sales" ? sales expected to close in 30 to 90 days ? hit 1,130 last month in the territory covered by the Sarasota Association of Realtors.

In Manatee County, the 794 homes and condominiums under contract represented a 48 percent increase from a year ago.

The interest from buyers also appears to be having an impact on pricing.

The median sales price of $167,500 reported by the Sarasota association was up 3.4 percent from January and 22 percent from a year ago. Manatee's median of $175,000 was up 9 percent from January and 13 percent from a year ago.

"It's as good as it gets," said Michael Moulton, a high-end agent with brokerage firm Michael Saunders & Co. in Sarasota. "I think we're back to the good times in terms of the number of transactions, though certainly, prices are nowhere near what they were."

Moulton attributed the movement to wealthy vacationers and especially buying by Canadians.

"The well-heeled are down here vacationing," he said. "They are feeling that they have to act quickly and can't wait till the end of the season because their choices might be gone."

The Canadian buyers also are being driven by a currency that is now equal in value to the dollar.

"Their loonie is on par with the dollar and their economy did not take as big of a hit," Moulton said. "Though the winter up north has been warmer than usual, it is unbelievable how crowded it is here."

Marc Rasmussen, a veteran broker who just opened Dwell Real Estate, said he just listed a one-bedroom, one-bath condominium with a water view on south Lido Key and it became a pending sale within 48 hours, with a contract and a backup.

"There is not a ton of inventory," Rasmussen said. "There is a misconception from people up north that there is still a lot for sale here. When you get right down to it, the inventory is limited."

Statewide and nationally, there was a similar pattern to the one being seen in Southwest Florida, though less pronounced.

In Florida, sales declined 4.8 percent during February but the number of pending sales rose 36 percent for homes and nearly 20 percent for condominiums and townhomes.

The statewide median was $134,000, up 7.2 percent from a year ago. For condos, the price was $95,000, up nearly 16 percent from February 2011.

Nationally, sales also dipped but the overall sales pace for the winter was the best in five years.

The National Association of Realtors said that home sales fell 0.9 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.59 million. That is down from a revised 4.63 million sold in January ? the highest level since May 2010.

The last three months have been the best for winter sales in five years. A mild winter and a stronger job market have helped boost sales ahead of the all-important spring buying season.

In Southwest Florida, the pricing gains appear to be impacting even distressed properties, which for years now have been weighing down the values of properties of all kinds.

"It's like a bloodbath at the online auctions," said Shannon Moore, the owner of GreenLionRealty.com in Port Charlotte. "New people are bidding and I don't know if they know what they're doing because they're bidding so high."

Moore said that one of her investor clients, for example, recently paid $130,000 for a house on Braddock Avenue in North Port that would have sold for no more than $110,000 four months ago.

She said that more properties also are being taken back by banks if bidders do not offer enough, which is making it difficult for the traditional investors who have been buying houses at deeply discounted prices since late 2008.

"They just can't get a crack at it," Moore said. "I have one guy who is looking to buy seven houses, but he can't. Either the bank steps in or another investor outbids him."

So the investor is shifting his attention from the online market place to short sales. "He's got a whole bunch of short sales under contract," she said.

Things seem to be moving on the other end of the real estate spectrum, too.

"The demand for the higher priced properties has definitely up-ticked here in 2011-2012," said Ray Alexander, owner of the Engel & Voelkers franchise for Anna Maria Island and Longboat Key.

Like others, Alexander can rattle off recent successes, in some cases handling properties that had been gathering dust for months or years.

In early January, Engel & Voelkers brought the buyer to a $2.74 million home on two acres of waterfront on Gulf of Mexico Drive, Alexander said.

"Back in 2005 that probably would have cost $3.5 million to $4 million."

Source: http://www.luxurysarasotarealestate.com/blog/area-homes-under-contract-near-12-month-high.html

mars rover trent richardson apple cup jewelry stores sleep no more cyber monday deals war eagle