The local housing market showed improvement in May as the national housing market saw a decline in existing home sales, according to new figures released Tuesday. Bradenton and Sarasota Realtors sold 1,029 existing homes in May, a 31 percent increase from the 783 homes sold in May 2009, according to the Florida Association of Realtors. The local sales figures sit in stark contrast to the 2.2 percent decrease in nationwide sales of existing homes. On Tuesday, the National Association of Realtors released its May sales figures that showed existing home sales fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.66 million units, down from 5.79 million units in April. “Florida, particularly our area, is a lot more affordable place to live,” said Cindy Greco, a Realtor with Wagner Realty and president of the Manatee Association of Realtors. “We’re in an area where the average sales prices have stabilized, the cost of living is affordable; plus there’s the weather and the beaches.”
Statewide, sales of existing homes also increased. Florida Realtors sold 16,745 single-family homes in May, an 18 percent increasr from the 14,172 sold in May 2009. It was the 21st consecutive month sales activity has increased in Florida. The sales increase for Sarasota-Bradenton marked the 11th consecutive month of year-over-year sales gains in the area. In addition, it was the second time since August 2005 that local Realtors sold more than 1,000 homes in a single month. Kelli Nold, a Realtor with Keller Williams Realty in Lakewood Ranch, said there are several factors that are helping the local housing market recover. “I think in general the consumer confidence was up, loans were being made and housing prices stabilized in certain pockets,” Nold said. “Those three things combined really help to drive buyers out to look and helped sellers be a little more realistic in pricing.”
Meanwhile, sales prices showed some recovery in Bradenton and Sarasota, albeit a minor one. Existing home sales prices increased 6 percent in May to $166,400 compared to $156,600 a year ago. Buyer interest in existing condominiums rebounded significantly in May. Bradenton and Sarasota Realtors sold 384 existing condo units, a 71 percent increase from May 2009 when 225 units were sold. Condo prices increased by 3 percent to $152,800 in May, from $148,500 in May 2009.
The National Association of Realtors reported the median existing home prices for all housing types — the price at which half is higher and half is lower — was $179,600 in May, up 2.7 percent from May 2009. Lawrence Yun, a chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, said the real estate market’s recovery looks promising even though the federal tax credit for first-time home buyers has expired. “The housing market has to get back on its own feet and now appears to be in a good position to return to sustainable levels even without government stimulus, provided the economy continues to add jobs,” Yun said in the National Association of Realtors’s report.
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Tags: Bradenton, economy, Florida, Florida Association of Realtors, home sales, housing market, National Association of Realtors, pricing, recovery, Sarasota
