For the second month in a row, the inventory of active listings in the two-county area increased year-over-year in May 2022. According to data from Florida Realtors and compiled by the Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee, the residential market also reports the highest-recorded prices for all property types in both counties, along with fewer closed sales and an increase in new listings.
The combined sales across the two counties and for both property types decreased year-over-year by 4.6% to 2,466 sales in May but increased by 7.9% from the previous month.

Single-family sales decreased from last year in Manatee County by 7.3% to 685 sales, while Sarasota single-family sales decreased by 7.6% to 910 sales. In the condo market, closed sales are increased by 6.3% to 339 sales in Manatee and are down by 1.7% to 532 sales in Sarasota.

“With everyone talking about rising interest rates and inflationary pressures, the number of sales begins to decrease and the number of properties actively on the market starts to increase. Some of this is cyclical based on the time of year since we are in our summer slowdown, but certainly higher interest rates and inflation are beginning to impact our market,” said 2022 RASM President Tony Veldkamp, a Senior Advisor at SVN Commercial Advisory Group. “Prices, both average and median, remain very strong and are still increasing, while we continue to see the time from listing to contract measured in days, not weeks. Our active inventory of single-family homes has finally exceeded one month of supply in both counties, but we deem a healthy balanced market as a six-month supply.”

At the end of the month, there were 2,556 active listings combined in both counties for both markets, a 58.5% increase from May of last year. Compared to last month, active inventory increased by 29.8% with 587 more listings reported at the end of May than at the end of April.

Prices continue to rise in May, with the highest median prices reported for both property types in both counties. Single-family home prices in Sarasota increased by 21.6% to $495,000, while the median price in Manatee increased year-over-year by 37.5% to $550,000. For condos, the median price in Sarasota increased by 29% from last year to $403,000, and Manatee prices increased by 51.9% to $369,900.

“If the time is right for someone to purchase a home, they should not let interest rates deter them if they can afford the increase in payments. Homes can be permanent, whereas interest rates are temporary. You may live in the home for the next 20 to 30 years or more, but you can refinance that loan in two years, five years, or ten years; whenever interest rates become more favorable,” added Veldkamp.

Unsold inventory for single-family homes is now at a 1.2-month supply, a 100% increase in Manatee County and a 71.4% increase in Sarasota County. As for the condo market, the months supply of inventory is at one month, a 66.7% increase for Manatee County and a 42.9% increase for Sarasota County.

The number of properties added to the market last month increased year-over-year by 17.2% for single-family homes and increased by 12% for condos. New listings also increased from last month with a combined month-over-month increase of 3.7% in the North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton MSA.

The median time it took for properties to go under contract was 6 days in May in the North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton MSA, which showed no change for single-family homes and a decrease of 33.3% for condos.

Monthly reports are provided by Florida Realtors with data compiled from Stellar MLS. Visit www.MyRASM.com/statistics.