Sarasota Real Estate Market: Fall 2006 Expectations and Beyond

Sarasota real estate agents are doing all sorts of gimmicks to attract buyers. Kelley Ann Ayers puts on the notice: “Attention buyers: Fall special I will pay your title insurance if you use me as your buyer’s agent.” This offer makes a lot of sense since title insurance is the highest closing cost for a buyer. Title insurance is approximately $1000 for every $200,000 of the purchase price in Sarasota at least. Julia Natalenko, another Sarasota realtor, announces: “I’ll pay for 1 year home warranty when you…buy a house with me.” With inventories rising up as high as 400{bc1e42e53d8565163e9cec719c82f5e0892e054fb5d628f08363879e07731a2f} more compared to last year’s, buyers now suddenly got plenty of options. It is not a surprise to see incentives like waivers for closing costs and home warranties being offered more often.

Fall is absolutely gorgeous in Sarasota. With cool nights and warm days, the weather here allows for outstanding golf, boating and visiting the beaches. Sarasota boasts some of the oldest and newest homes in the Southwest Florida region. Some homes were built over 50 years ago to serve as winter vacation destinations.

According to Natalenko, there has not been a better time to buy a real estate property in Southwest Florida. She currently rates the Sarasota real estate market to be a strong buyer’s market. She also judges the price trends to be fairly falling. With lots and lots of options, buyers are guaranteed to find the property they have in mind. Favorable interest rates also favor the buyer’s side. In addition, sliding prices of gas are making it a bit less stressful on their budget.

For buyers, the good news is that it is clearly a strong buyer’s market in Sarasota right now, which makes it a great time to invest in real estate properties in this area. The sellers have flooded each other with competition, consequently benefiting the buyers. The glut in inventory is unlike the past three years. As a matter of fact, according to Ayers, the inventory of properties for sale in the Sarasota real estate market right now is much greater than the number of buyers. Hence, sellers are accepting offers they would have dismissed without a blink six months ago, and buyers are able to drive harder bargains and be choosier in the entire home buying process.

Fall in Sarasota sounds good news for sellers as well. As the snowbirds season is about to begin, sellers might expect a somewhat busier time compared to the rest of the year. Nevertheless, sellers still should anticipate their property to sit on the market for about 6 months, which is an average for properly priced real estate.

As occurs in all markets, the Sarasota real estate market is in a process of equilibration period after several years of rapid appreciation. Nobody can tell how long it would take before things start to rise up again. Will the market go up again? The answer is yes, of course it will. What we do not know is exactly when. But there are many reasons for sellers to remain optimistic. One reason according to Ayers is that, “when you come [to Sarasota] and look around, it is easy to see why this area is a top destination for second homes and retirement. This is a very desirable area for many reasons and that is not going to change!” Sarasota is situated in a prime waterfront location. It has terrific schools, tourism, job opportunities from Fort Myers to Tampa. Ayers further adds that Sarasotans are “seeing unprecedented development of [their] downtown area and many undervalued properties are in the path of that development.”

For those who have dreamed of getting into the real estate game, Sarasota real estate agents have not seen a more promising time to enter the market than at present. Sarasota has too much to offer the many baby-boomers on the verge of retirement, as well as relocating families. The recent survey conducted by Moody’s Economy.com predicts that the Sarasota real estate market is yet to experience its biggest drop in the third quarter of 2007, for which home prices would reach the most bottom levels declining to around 14{bc1e42e53d8565163e9cec719c82f5e0892e054fb5d628f08363879e07731a2f}; after reaching this point, prices will be on the rise again. Kelly Ayers believes that by 2008, many people will be lamenting that they “didn’t buy that property back in 2006.”