Sarasota Real Estate Blog

All things being equal, it was not a bad third quarter for home sales in the Sarasota-Bradenton market.

In fact, the 5 percent drop in sales for the local market was the best performance in a state that saw total sales drop 29 percent when compared with the same time in 2006.

Ocala posted a 53 percent drop, Miami a 42 percent decline and Fort Myers-Cape Coral and Orlando, 39 percent, the Florida Association of Realtors reported Wednesday.

There were 2,084 homes that changed hands in Sarasota-Bradenton during the quarter compared with 2,195 during the third quarter of 2006.

The price decline during the third quarter in the Sarasota-Bradenton market was in line with the rest of the state. The local market saw a 6 percent drop — from a median sales price of $301,800 to $283,800.

Realtors blamed the most recent quarter’s performance on high inventory levels, mortgage disruptions and tighter lending standards.

The state association’s national counterpart is still predicting that the credit crunch will subside and a modest recovery for sales will occur next year.

“Over the near term, home sales are likely to be fairly flat as the lingering impact of the credit crunch filters through the system through the end of the year,” Lawrence Yun, the National Association of Realtors’ chief economist, said in a statement. “In some ways, the extended real estate boom from 2001 to 2005 created unrealistic expectations that housing is a short-term, high-yield investment.”