2019 Year End Real Estate Market Update

The Numbers are in and 2019 was a strong year for real estate in Sarasota and Manatee Counties.  The Sarasota and Manatee County real estate markets are set to have a great year again in 2020 , rates are still low and with an election coming up its pretty safe to say that no one wants to rock that boat.  So lets dive into the numbers!

First we always like to look at the number of new homes coming on the market. 

2019 saw a 1% increase in New Listings which is not a huge increase and will play into the low inventory numbers we will see later on , now remember this number will not take into consideration all the New Construction homes since they are not all listed for sale. This means if your a seller now may be a great time to take a look at upsizing or downsizing your home.

 

Next up lets take a look at the number of pending homes or the number of home that have gone into escrow.

2019 saw a large increase in pending sales year over year. If pending sales continues to outpace New Listings we will see a shrinking inventory in the higher demand price points. With interest rates staying low and lending power increasing this is a good sign for at least 6 to 9 months of continued growth. 

 

Now lets take a look at Months Supply of Inventory. What this means is that if we sold every home available and no more inventory came on the market how long would that take. 

Inventory took a drop towards the end of the year finishing down 20% against 2018's numbers . With the slowdown in new listings it goes to figure that this number would drop a bit as the current inventory sells off. With SEASON here now we should see this number bump back up in the first few months of 2020

 

The median price is up 3.4% on the year, which is the amount that values have increased/decreased. This is good to consider if your thinking about selling and comparing prices to what you have seen. 

 

The next two numbers we want to look at is the number of homes that are actually for sale, and how long is it taking for those homes to go into escrow. 

So first the number of homes for sale has decreased more than 10% compared to 2018. With a total of 4786 homes for sale in Sarasota and Manatee County we are still seeing Condition and Price as important as ever. Certain price points still have a glut of homes sticking around causing buyers to search out the true VALUE (Buyers perceive value as Price + Condition) . Speak with your House Match Realtor to make sure you are POSITIONED to best capitalize on this. 

So when you have less homes for sale naturally you think they would sell faster. However we saw the median time to contract rise in 2019. Which is how long it takes for a home to go on the market and then go into escrow. 

So the time to contract is up 6.4% Year to Date to 50 days, this number too can be dialed in to specific neighborhoods and price points. However if your home has been sitting longer than 50 days you have to review the THE BIG TWO... Price and Condition. 

It is interesting to see inventory go down and time to contract go up. That can signal that buyers are becoming a bit more selective in the homes they choose, or that they are choosing new construction over resale. Keep that in mind when pricing your home. 

I also wanted to include this to show the difference between price points in how quickly homes are selling 

It is nice to see that the Days to Contract dropped in the super competitive $400,000 - $900,000 range. With inventory dropping a bit, the homes that were sitting are now starting to pick up activity again.  

 

It all has to do with supply and demand. Take a look at the next chart. 

We are seeing the biggest increase in that $250-$299 range of listings, what we are noticing is that alot of Sellers are taking advantage of the great interest rates to MOVE UP in home. They are selling and taking the equity they made in the $250-$299 range and moving up into the $400-$599 range of homes. 

Last but not least we have Closed Sales , with closed sales being up 9.9% for the year we have a strong indicator that the market is still going strong. With interest rates still near record lows and inventory remaining tight in certain price points it is a great market for both Buyers and Sellers. 

How did your real estate investments do in 2019? Do you have specific investment or real estate goals in 2020?  

If you have any questions or would like some more specific data on your home, neighborhood, or price point. Please do not hesitate to reach out!

 

Matt Bohanon

CEO

House Match