Sarasota MLS

If you are unfamiliar with the Sarasota real estate market take a look at the properties currently for sale. This will give you a good idea of what to expect to get when you buy property in Sarasota, Florida. My Sarasota MLS page allows you to view all property listed in the MLS.

If you don't have the patience to look send an email to Sarasota Realtor with information on what you want to spend, the type of property you would like to buy and I will send you everything for sale.

Home buyers getting back in driver's seat

As real estate listings soar, sellers have to downsize high-profit dreams

By MICHAEL POLLICK
michael.pollick@heraldtribune.com

Kent Weaver's house in Southgate, a close-in Sarasota subdivision, had plenty going for it as a fresh listing in a hot market: good location, updated kitchen and baths, newly laid oak floors, a new roof and new windows.

But the home received a cool reception when it came on the market during the summer. It was a time when the Southwest Florida residential real estate market was making a fairly abrupt transition from a sellers' heaven to one with buyers back in the driver's seat.

Buyers have not been there for three years.

An earlier rush into speculative deals, coupled with mortgage rate spikes and hurricane jitters, has created a supply-and-demand situation where the number of active real estate listings in the region is three times higher than a year ago

The number of closings, meanwhile, seems to have slowed down more than normal during the autumn.

That combination has put downward pressure on prices.

Keller Williams agent Steve DuToit listed the Weavers' house at $347,500 this summer, reduced the price to $334,500 after five weeks of lackluster interest, and finally negotiated a sale at $297,500, a full $50,000, or 14 percent, under the original asking price.

Read the rest of the article here:
http://www.sarasotaherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051120/BUSINESS/511200555

The market has definitely slowed down over the alst 3 months. The number of properties on the market have increased. Everyone knew this was eventually going to happen. I believe it will be a more balanced market between the buyers and the sellers. This should lead to more normal appreciation rates of 8-12% a year.

Housing market slows

Prices still up, but houses are expected to stay on the market longer
By MICHAEL POLLICK
michael.pollick@heraldtribune.com

Buyers now have more time to think before they buy a Southwest Florida home, while sellers can expect to gaze longer at a for-sale sign in their yards

The changes in market sentiment come as the Florida Association of Realtors reports a 15 percent slowdown in the number of houses sold in the Sarasota-Bradenton area during the third quarter.

Prices continued their bubbly performance, coasting along at levels 31 percent higher than a year earlier, the group said.

However, the supply of homes listed for sale has swelled to three times what it was a year ago. It's a level that one leading broker called "balanced." Others said it's a transition from the seller's market of the past two years to a market in which the buyers call the shots.

Statewide, third-quarter sales rose 7 percent from a year ago while the median price rose 31 percent to $248,600, according to Tuesday's report from the Florida Association of Realtors.

But in the Sarasota-Bradenton area, where the median price rose 31 percent to $338,200, the number of houses sold fell 15 percent from a year ago.

Read the rest of the article here:
http://www.sarasotaherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051116/BUSINESS/511160445

And the condos keep on coming

There is one planned condo unit for every 19 people in Sarasota. But does that constitute a glut?

By MICHAEL BRAGA
michael.braga@heraldtribune.com

SARASOTA -- Miami is often held out as the most condominium-crazed town in the nation. But looking at it in proportion, Sarasota is even crazier.

Developers have plans for 25,000 units in Miami's city center, or one for every 24 of its 600,000 residents. Sarasota -- population 55,000 -- gets you one planned condo for every 19.

Understandably, the big question on the minds of market players and observers is whether Sarasota's torrid condo construction will eclipse demand and drive the city's upward-spiraling prices back to earth. It is another aspect of the much broader debate about whether Southwest Florida and the nation are in a real estate bubble.

The fact that real estate agents have been having trouble selling Sarasota condos priced at $1 million or more for some time is a good indication that the high-end market is overbuilt.

The rest of the article is here:
http://www.sarasotaherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051106/BUSINESS/51106001

They quoted me in this article:

Marc Rasmussen, a Re/Max agent, worries that prices of those units have been bid up so high by speculators in the pre-construction phase that potential long-term buyers will be limited.

"Demand for downtown property is still pretty hot, but it's getting very expensive. Even though there are plenty of people coming here with money, it will take a while before all the units get absorbed," Rasmussen said.

I also made a comment about how Sarasota might seem expensive when compared to price levels a few years ago but if you compare our market to other high end markets in Florida, such as Boca Raton, Palm Beach, and Naples, we are priced well.

Home for sale in Sarasota, Florida

I just listed this gorgeous, remodeled home on over 2 acres in Sarasota for $849,900. It is hard to find a nice home on some acreage close to Sarasota and under $1,000,000. Go here to see this home for sale in Sarasota. The address is 7545 Castle drive.

Owners paid for their 'modest modern' home with money, sweat

Here is an article from the Sarasota Herald Tribune about some friends and clients of mine. ;-)

http://www.sarasotaherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051029/REALESTATE/510290332/1201

Golden Gate Point large waterfront deal dead

Developer pulls out of deal
By MICHAEL POLLICK
michael.pollick@heraldtribune.com

SARASOTA -- The city's biggest waterfront land deal is dead in the water.

Parker Capital LLC has called off its $50 million takeover of Pier 550 on Golden Gate Point only three months after signing on 49 owners at the prime waterfront site.

The colorful deal, which captivated real estate watchers with its $20-million-per-acre price tag, was negotiated during the summer by Vicki Mann, a Re/Max Suncoast Realty Realtor with her own vivid history. Mann left her native Britain without paying a sizeable, headline-grabbing legal judgment to a homeowner who sued her over a waterfront condo sale she handled.

But don't count Pier 550 out of play in the sometimes insane world of Southwest Florida real estate.

"It is unfortunate that this buyer decided not to follow through," said Sheryl Edwards, a Sarasota real estate attorney representing many of the sellers. "The property is certainly available to another potential buyer."

The cancellation letter from Parker is brief and makes no mention of Mann or the Herald-Tribune articles that delineated her flight.

The letter says Parker representatives have inspected and analyzed Pier 550 and determined that it's simply not suitable for the intended use.


View the rest of the article here:
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051103/BUSINESS/511030461/1060/INDEX01


I just did a quick search on the Sarasota MLS for condos over $2,000,000 for sale. As of November 3, 2005 there are 119 of them actively for sale. These do not include the new construction not listed on MLS. I would be a little nervous with 66 condos for sale with sales prices over $3,000,000. However, I have been wrong before. ;-)