How is it that median sold prices seem to be holding, not going down? The short answer is that the supply of homes for sale, although increasing due to more buyers marginalized from higher interest rates, is still not able to keep pace with demand. [...]
As I gear up for my 2023 Sarasota County housing market forecast, this month my focus is on active listings, which are a forward looking indicator on how prices are trending. In October, the year over year median active list price for single family resales was unchanged at $599,000. Approximately 40% of all active listings had a [...]
Where are prices heading? Historically, less people list in November and December. With mortgage rates hovering at 7% and recovery from Ian just getting underway, I expect fewer sales. Inventory will continue its slow ascent as prices [...]
Sarasota County continues to have a critical shortage of homes for sale, and it does not appear to be changing any time soon. Notwithstanding the spike in mortgage rates to 6.02% last week, the highest since the financial crisis of 2008, fewer homes are for sale, resulting in less sold homes. Not only are more buyers sidelined due [...]
Tracking the number of mortgage applications for purchase (“MAFP”) is a strong barometer of trending sales. When MAFP increase, home sales rise. Conversely, a downturn in MAFP means less homes selling. [...]
The Sarasota housing market is cooling. It is still a strong seller’s market, but it has lost its effervescence. The tide has begun to turn. There are fewer showings and days of multiple offers are winding down. [...]
It has been a turbulent time for home sales. An inventory crisis has wrought meteoric home price growth. We now face rising mortgage rates, a widening affordability gap, super-charged inflation, tumultuous geopolitical events affecting the global supply chain, and a severe societal and cultural schism. [...]
Last week I attended a housing conference. The guest economist posited that inflation may have peaked. If inflation has peaked, what does that portend for home prices in Sarasota [...]
We currently have a 0.6-month supply of homes for sale. Basically, a tad over 2 weeks. It has essentially been that way since January 2021, when briefly there was a 1.6-month supply, itself historically low. There is no evidence that this is changing. Ergo: prices will continue to march higher. [...]
Last month I said --- “There has never been a better time to sell a home”. It begs the question. If prices are at all-time historic levels (which they are), why aren’t more homeowners selling? [...]
