Housing Prices Are Cooling Off...

Sellers are definitely blinking.

For the second month in a row, the Sarasota-Bradenton market posted a double-digit drop in median sales price.

A single -family home sold for $309,700 during August, down 11 percent drop during July. It is a sure sign that the houses that are moving in a market saturated with listings are the ones most competitively priced. The biggest mistake today is that sellers price their homes off their neighbor's home down the street. We still see a lot of overpriced listings going on the market.

Sales in The Sarasota-Bradenton have dropped 28 percent, from 1,062 to 765.

At the present clip, it would take nearly two years to sell off just the existing inventory, assuming no more homes come onto the market. So far, the listing rate has been growing at about 1,500 or each month. The current rate of sales is comparable to 2002 before the big boom of 2003-2005. We are now returning to a more traditional market.

Condominiums fared worse in terms of sales than houses, but better in terms of price in August. There has been a 55 percent drop in volume, from 454 in August 2005 to 206 last month. The median sales price dropped 14 percent from $280,000 to $240,000.

The good news is we are in a great city. People love the sun and the arts.

For more information, please call:
Louis Wery, Broker Associate, CIPS, CRS, ABR, LHMS
Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate, Inc.
201 Gulf of Mexico Drive, Suite One
Longboat Key, Florida 34228 USA
1-941-232-3001