Decrease in April Home Sales Nothing to Worry About

Closings for Sarasota residential real estate showed a 9 percent decrease in April compared to March. The decrease, however, is not indicative of a destabilization again in the market but rather an annual trend. March typically is the peak month each year for property sales in Sarasota.

A total of 474 residential properties were closed in April compared to 519 in March 2011. One year ago, the closings for April were 500, a decrease of only 6%. The bulk of the sales were in single-family homes, with 257 closings, followed closely by condo sales of 143 units.

Of the condos, a penthouse at the Ritz Carlton residences sold within one day of reaching the market, selling for $4,000,000.  

Distressed closings (short sales and foreclosures) were down, comprising only 28% of the units closed for April.

The first five days of May had 77 new listings on the market, including a vintage 1925 property on Alameda.

If you are still debating whether or not to buy at this time, it is worth considering. Increasing numbers of neighborhoods in Sarasota are showing signs of stabilization, creating a greater balance between buyers and sellers as inventory drops.