Sarasota January 2008 Home Sales

March 14, 2008

The Sarasota region continued to experience falling home sales and prices in January, which posted the lowest sales for any month in at least 11 years. The median price paid slipped back to its lowest level in nearly three years, leaving it 22 percent below its 2006 peak.

A total of 874 new and resale homes closed escrow in January in the Sarasota-Bradenton-Venice metro area. That was down 23.1 percent from December's 1,137 sales and down 34.4 percent from 1,332 sales in January 2007, according to DataQuick Information Systems of La Jolla, Calif. The firm tracks real estate trends nationally via public property records.

January's sales were the lowest for any month in DataQuick's statistics, which for complete Sarasota region home sales begin in January 1997. The area's sales have fallen on a year-over-year basis for 28 consecutive months.

The median price paid for all new and resale homes combined in the metro area encompassing Sarasota and Manatee counties was $218,950 in January - the lowest since the median was $215,000 in February 2005. January's median fell 1.9 percent from $223,300 in December and fell 18.9 percent from $269,900 in January 2007. The median, which stood 22 percent below its $280,700 peak reached in June 2006, has fallen on a year-over-year basis for nine consecutive months.

Another price gauge analysts track, the median price paid per square foot for resale houses, fell to $131 in January, down 17.6 percent from a year ago. It was 23 percent below its $194 peak in November 2005. The median price paid per square foot has fallen on a year-over-year basis for 19 consecutive months. The decline was sharper for the median price paid per square foot for resale condos. It dropped to $146 in January, down 22.3 percent from a year ago and down 29.4 percent from its February 2006 peak of $207. The condo median per square foot has fallen on a year-over-year basis for 19 consecutive months.

Sarasota-Bradenton-Venice, FL MSA

	# Sales			Median price
	Jan-07	Jan-08	%Chg	Jan-07	Jan-08	%Chg
Resale houses	562	488	-13.2%	$243,750	$210,000	-13.8%
Resale condos	193	188	-2.6%	$265,000	$200,000	-24.5%
New homes	577	198	-65.7%	$305,150	$257,900	-15.5%
All homes	1,332	874	-34.4%	$269,900	$218,950	-18.9%