For the past few years, we have seen quite a bit of change in the real estate market in Sarasota and Manatee counties. The two markets have sometimes moved together and have sometimes diverged. However, one fact has remained constant in both counties through the rest of the change. The market has remained balanced for single family homes selling between $400,000 and $599,999. What do I mean by balanced?
Real estate markets are generally believed to be balanced when there is about six months of inventory on the market. In other words, they are balanced when it would take about six months to sell all of the homes listed for sale at the current pace of home sales. If, on average, it takes more than six months to sell through the inventory, the market is said to be a buyer’s market. If it takes less, the market is a seller’s market.
For homes less than $400,000, we have been in a seller’s market for the past few years. The amount the market has favored sellers has varied quite a bit, but the seller’s market has held. Generally speaking, the lower you get below $400,000 the more the market favors sellers. For homes over $600,000, the market has generally favored buyers for some time now. However, the degree of benefit for buyers has whipsawed quite a bit. For example, there have been periods where there has been 29 months of inventory on hand for $1,000,000+ homes in Manatee county. That number is now only around 14 months.
The market has generally been trending towards sellers in recent months; however, the constant still holds. If you are looking at buying or selling a home between $400,000 and $599,999, the market remains in balance. If you are on either side of that range, it becomes more and more important that you work with the right realtor, as they will understand how to best leverage your opportunity.