Sarasota/St. Petersburg Real Estate Blog by Corcoran Dwellings

Where are the Listings? Why Homeowners are Staying Put

Housing market inventory remains tight as homeowners hold onto their homes longer. The typical homeowner in 2020 had remained in place for 13 years, up slightly from 12.8 years in 2019 – but well ahead of 2010’s reading of 8.7 years, according to an analysis by Redfin.

About 1 in 4 U.S. homeowners has lived in the same home for more than 20 years, the study found. Still, even with the pandemic, home sales raged in 2020, pushing activity and sales prices to new heights.

However, homeowners who decided not to sell did so because of pandemic concerns and concerns about finding a new house in a competitive market. Many also enjoyed ultralow interest rates after a refinance on their current home that made it more advantageous to stay put.

A drop in sellers as owners stay in a current home longer forces the real estate markets to tighten, including the Sarasota and Manatee County areas.

Inventory sank to its lowest level in decades. This past December, Sarasota County had 2,394 active listings which was 43.3% fewer properties than December 2019. Manatee County had 1,552 active listing, down 46.1%. At the current sales pace, there was a record-low 2 months’ supply of homes on the market in December for Sarasota County (down 47.4% from December 2019) and 1.7 months' for Manatee County (down 51.4% from December 2019). See our Market Statistics for a break down of the market.

The market’s home shortage and low borrowing rates have pushed up prices and increased buyer competition, Median Sale Price in December 2019 reached $278,200 in Sarasota County and $288,000 in...

Quay Sarasota Plans Start Taking Shape

Plans are starting to fall into place for Quay Sarasota! GreenPointe Developers, and real estate investment firm Cross Lake Partners have laid out a vision for the 14-acre waterfront district at the end of Fruitville Road in Downtown Sarasota. Luxury residences, upscale retail, boutique hotel, state-of-the-art office space bordering the bay, and now builders, Lennar Multifamily Communities (LMC) and Kolter Urban, are committed to bringing part of the vision to life. In a news release shared by the Quay Sarasota, these builders, collectively, closed on nearly 3 acres of land and have announced plans for a luxury condominium and a luxury high-rise apartment complex. “We are pleased to achieve this milestone at Quay Sarasota,” Ed Burr, president and CEO of GreenPointe Holdings, said of the closings with Lennar and Kolter. 

Lennar Multifamily Communities (LMC) acquired 1.65 acres to build its first apartment community in the Sarasota market. The 12-story project will have 240 luxury multifamily units with over 13,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor. Amenities in the community will feature a top-floor wine lounge, catering kitchen, cybercafe, resident lounge, golf simulator, business center, meeting rooms and a fitness center. Residents will also be able to enjoy the resort-style swimming pool, outdoor cabanas with a bar and grill, dog park and bike repair shop. Lennar is setting out to begin construction in May 2021, and estimates its first units will be finished in September 2023. LMC has designed and built multifamily developments all over the county, with 5 projects in Miami and 1 in Orlando. “Our community will be the premier rental destination at the Sarasota waterfront,”...