Graphic courtesy Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee.

Hurricane Ian may have caused a dip in home sales during October, but prices continue to reach record highs, according to the Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee.

Data released Friday by the Association shows the median sale on single-family homes in the Sarasota-Bradenton-North Port market climbed to $544,343. That’s a 31% jump from October last year. The median price in Sarasota County rose to a record high of $537,500, and it went up to $549,444 in Manatee County.

But the total number of closed sales during the month dropped to 1,542. That’s a 24.3% decrease from last October. It also represents a 22.1% increase from September, but the Realtor Association said that’s because of a major dip in activity as a result of the hurricane. Ian made landfall in Lee County on Sept. 28, caused business closures days ahead of that, and caused significant damage through various parts of the region. The effect of the storm could be seen in the distance from landfall as well, with Manatee County seeing a 14.9% decline in home sales from last October but Sarasota County seeing a 34% drop in sales. Condo sales saw even sharper declines.

September also typically sees less activity in this market, experts said.

“After a seasonal drop in closed sales in September, single-family home sales in October saw a very healthy bounce back,” said Tony Veldkamp, 2022 president of the Association and a senior advisor at SVN Commercial Advisory Group. “While closed sales are not at 2020 to 2021 levels, October 2022 is very comparable to 2018 to 2019 levels.”

The spike in actual prices still provides good news for sellers and real estate professionals. Sarasota’s median prices climbed 31.1% from last year and Manatee’s prices went up 29.3%, massive jumps.

“The growth in sale prices continues to amaze us,” Veldkamp said. “There is no reduction in median prices this month and we continue to have a very strong market. With our good job market, we expect that trend to continue over the next few months and as interest rates begin to stabilize and even drop, 2023 will see an increase in activity in our real estate market. It remains a great time to sell.”

New listings in the market dipped more than 24% in the region, which means inventories remain low. There’s a 2.8-month supply of single-family homes in the metropolitan region, and a 2-month supply of condo units. A year ago, there was just a 0.6-month supply for either. But generally, real estate professionals consider a six-month supply as a balanced market, leaving this a time for sellers to gain. 

Graphic courtesy Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee.