2010 Downtown Sarasota Condo Market Recap
Unsold Downtown Sarasota Condo Inventory
No area of the county has seen inventory improvement like the downtown condominium market. At the end of 2010, unsold condos in downtown Sarasota (ZIP 34236) totaled just 324 compared to the 704 on hand at the peak in April of 2007. The inventory level has ranged between 391 and 325 during the past 4 months of 2010. These levels are 22% lower than the lowest pre-peak levels since August 2005.
Even better, the downward trend seems to be continuing. Where county wide levels of unsold inventory have leveled off, downtown condo inventory continues to fall. The levels are 16% below the same month last year.
Sales of Downtown Sarasota Condos
Sales were also strong, perhaps even stronger than they appear on the following chart. 2010 was the second consecutive year of increasing sales. If you exclude the 180 unit sales of new construction condos that closed in 2007, then 2005 was the highest sales year since 2005.
However, the relationship of sales an inventory is still weak or rather still favors the buyers. There is a little over a year’s supply of inventory more or less twice the level of a balanced market (6 months of supply is balanced, any more is a buyer’s market and any less is a seller’s market). While there may be some imbalances across price points and buildings, in general, there is still a lot of unsold inventory. Prices will continue to be under pressure until the ratio between sales and inventory improves.
Downtown Sarasota Condo Foreclosures and Short Sales
Foreclosures and short sales in the downtown Sarasota Condo market are among the lowest in the area. Total distressed sales amounted to 21% of the downtown Sarasota condo market where the county average for condos was 28% (51% for single family homes). At year end, only 4 bank-owned listings were included in unsold inventory along with just 26 short sales. Total distressed inventory was just 9% of inventory compared to 13% for the entire county.