February Property Sales Set to Eclipse January

Property sales in Sarasota for the start of 2011 are already knocking the socks off sales from 2 years ago.  The "frugal fatigue" seems to extend to buying new homes or investment properties.

With brokerage call centers in Sarasota employing answering machines to handle overload, agents are having to "wait in line" to book viewings for their customers, suggesting the surge in sales could continue for some time still.

Closings in January 0f 2009 for all properties stood at 232; for 2010 at 304 and for 2011 they were up to 312.  This is a significant increase in just 3 years.  Though February has not yet come to an end, there have already been 147 closings with another 247 poised to be complete by the end of the month.  This represents an increase of 63% over the past two years.

The trend in numbers of properties sold is significant even though the dollar value per square foot sold has dropped.  With fewer listings on the market and the number of properties being sold increasing, the equation would normally equal a stabilizing market.

These general trends are exciting but most real estate agents in Sarasota retain a conservative outlook.