Happy July! It’s summer vacation – especially for the young and the young at heart. Here in Sarasota, it’s the second busiest month for travel and tourism.
I want to talk about the Sarasota real estate numbers for the second quarter (April through June) of 2022. The numbers obviously are looking backward and don’t give us a true indication of what’s going to happen in the future, but here we go:
- Sales are down by 19.8% in the second quarter compared to the same period a year ago.
- The luxury market (sales over 1M) has declined 9.65%.
- Inventory is up 110% just in the last 90 days. Yet it is still only 6 weeks of inventory.
What does all this mean?
Sarasota has not changed that much in the last 2 weeks, 6 months, or 2 years. It’s still a great place and people continue to come here. What I learned as a student in the public school system here in Sarasota is that the basic economics of supply and demand still hold true.
Sarasota still suffers from a lack of GOOD inventory. Yes, the fair inventory isn’t selling as quickly. But the GREAT stuff is still selling, and Sarasota has more buyers than sellers. But because of a lack of good options, they are staying on the sidelines.
And what do I mean by a lack of good choices? Properties that are in favorable condition with a location and lifestyle experience that many buyers covet. Let’s take a look at a good example for illustration:
This week St Armands Tower, where many of our clients own, just had its first unit go on the market in 17 months. The last unit for sale in there was February 14th, 2021. That was a long time ago. Our market is made up of very savvy buyers and sellers and we’ll soon see what price this unit sells for. This unit is currently listed for $1,275,000. It sold for $623,000 six years ago. There have been no major improvements. I don’t know if the asking price is egregious,
but the market feedback comes very quickly in this environment. The sales price reflects an annual appreciation of 12.5%, which is a little more than double the historical average for waterfront condominiums. By the time you’re watching this or reading this – there can be only one of three things that have happened: it’s gone under contract, there’s been a price reduction, or they’re staying the course. But this illustrates our challenge here in Sarasota. Just one unit in 17 months!
If you’re living in a location that brings you JOY, I encourage you to stay put. If not, let us know and we’ll help you find a location that’ll bring much more JOY to your life. Think about where you want to live and how you want to live.
Sarasota is no different than any other place. We’re experiencing our change just like many other places throughout the country and throughout the world. However, don’t become complacent and get glued to the unpredictability of the future. Live life – that’s what we all want to have.
When you’re ready to make a change, please give me a call @ 941.587.0740.
