Home sales off in Sarasota, but still second best in Florida

The Sarasota-Bradenton market posted an 8 percent drop in January sales, which sounds bad but was the second best performance in Florida.

Pressure, however, continued to mount on pricing. The market saw a 20 percent drop -- the state's largest -- from a median price of $353,500 in January 2006 to $284,400 last month. It was the eighth straight month of declining year-over-year prices and came amid rising inventory.

But even in pricing, there were signs of stability. The $284,400 figure was flat compared with recent months: December's median was $284,700 and November's $281,900.