Whether you are buying or selling a home, it is important to think about several different factors when making decisions. The list below from Florida Realtors should be top of mind when either accepting or delivering an offer. I have personally been involved in multiple transactions where price wasn’t enough to make a deal come together.
The market for single-family homes in Manatee County remained relatively soft in April. Inventory levels are up 33% when compared to a year ago, and transactions were roughly flat year over year. The lower end of the market is stronger than the upper end, which is pushing the median sale price down. Overall, this summer is shaping up to favor buyers at this point. That said, we have seen an uptick in activity in the last few weeks. The infographic below from Florida Realtors contains more information.
Single-family home inventory is continuing to grow as we wrap up our area’s busy season. New listings continue to outpace both closed sales and new pending sales. Overall transaction volume was significantly lower in March of 2025 than it was in March of 2024. Interestingly, the median sale price held strong last month. The likely driver of that was the mix of home sales skewing upmarket in 2025. While it is not a terrible time to sell, the market favors buyers more than we have seen in quite a while. The infographic from Florida Realtors, below, contains more March highlights.
Inventory for single-family homes crossed the six-month threshold in February. In other words, at the current pace of sales, it will take over six months to run out of homes to buy if no new listings appear. Many experts believe that is when a market officially turns into a buyer’s market.
As we are approaching the end of our busy season, it sure feels like buyer leverage is increasing in Manatee. That said, leverage for buyers is greater at the higher end of the market than the lower end. I continue to recommend that sellers put their best foot forward to help ensure they get the outcome they desire because it is not as easy to sell your home as it was a year ago. The infographic below from Florida Realtors offers more detailed information.
While closed sales saw solid year-over-year growth in January, they didn’t keep pace with new inventory on the market. Accordingly, the market continued to shift toward buyers in January. It is still relatively balanced, but it is in better shape at lower price points than the higher end of the market. Due to more transactions at the lower to middle end of the market, the median sales price was down a whopping 8.6% when compared to January of 2024. Overall, it feels like opportunities exist for home buyers in the market. The infographic below from Florida Realtors has more data from the month.
