Sarasota Association of Realtors President Peter Crowley reported that “December was a great month for Sarasota residential sales. Many of our seasonal residents and visitors appear to have decided to buy this year." This trend has been attributed to higher mortgage interest rates expected in 2014” Others suggest that the substantial rise in the stock market during the past year has made more people willing and able to consider buying a second home here in Sarasota.
Existing homes are selling well in both
Sarasota and Manatee County and out on the popular Barrier Islands. Home sales in Lakewood Ranch, for example, have been particularly
strong in upscale neighborhoods and in Esplanade, the all-new "active adult lifestyle"
community. Of the 573 homes sold in Lakewood Ranch last year, nearly 350 of them were new-consruction homes. The limited number of existing homes
for sale has led builders across the area to become aggressive in buying lots and raw
land to meet the expected high level of demand for homes in 2014.
Sarasota area luxury homes and condos on the Sarasota waterfront and on the Barrier Islands were also being bought at a rapid pace as 2013 closed out. The luxury homes recovery is occurring predominantly in the $500,000 to $2 million categories
where sales increased in 2013 over 2012 by 39%. Luxury porperties priced above $2
million have continued to be stalled although with a few outstanding exceptions.
In addition to the high level of existing
home sales, there has been a very noticeable uptick in new construction just about
everywhere lots and open land are available. Builders and developers spent more than $60 million purchasing nearly 1,250 acres of raw land and 294 building lots from Bradenton and
Lakewood Ranch to Punta Gorda in December alone. Builders buying up land locally include all the major players including Neal Homes, Taylor
Morrison, DR Horton, Ashton Woods and
many others.
The demand for new homes isn't limited to modestly-priced homes. And, the demand for luxury homes
is not limited to just Sarasota condos along the waterfront and out on popular Barrier Islands like Longboat and Siesta Key. New luxury homes are in demand
and being built in many other Sarasota communities like The Lake Club in Lakewood Ranch. Back in 2006, when that gated,
Tuscan-inspired community opened, its 10 opulent, estate-sized model homes
carried price tags of $3.5 to $8 million. Then, during the housing slump of
2008, ’09 and ’10, activity slowed to a crawl. That has now
changed. Of the 34
new-construction homes sold in The Lake
Club in 2013, the average price was over $1.2 million. Today,
there are 28 more ultra-luxury
homes in the 7,000+ square foot range being built in The Lake Club, but
not as spec homes. All of them are already sold.
With all this new demand, Neal Homes President, Past Neal, was quoted as
saying “Land prices are going up and so are the prices of drywall, framing
labor and concrete. Pretty soon home prices will have to start going up too.”
So trends suggest that 2014 will be a record-breaking year
for Sarasota real estate sales, and with the cost of everything from the land
to labor and materials rising, if you’ve been thinking about buying a home, a villa or condominium here
on the Sarasota Sun Coast, you should contact a Sarasota Realtor very soon and get started. The bargain prices on short sale and foreclosure properties of yesterday are largely gone, but there is still time to buy that dream home or condo before prices rise further.
If you are in the market for a Sarasota luxury home
or condo, call Rich Stover today at 941.266-1799. I’d be delighted to answer your
questions and offer suggestions on where we can find the property that best matches your needs and desires here in sunny Sarasota Florida.
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