No Housing Bubble

Exacerbated by a labor shortage and rapidly increasing cost of building materials, builders in new communities from Wellen Park to Lakewood Ranch are releasing lots in small numbers and requiring sealed bids from homebuyers without knowing what the final building cost will be. It pushes frustrated new homebuyers to turn [...]

As I have postulated in prior commentaries, the combination of demographics (Baby Boomers, Gen X and Millennials), historically low interest rates, the hyperbolic reaction from buyers due to pent up demand from the lockdown, and the paucity of sellers uncomfortable listing their homes due to mixed messaging, has led to home price [...]

I fully expect that by the 3^rd quarter of this year we will be in an all-in growth mode.   And then inflation will begin to rise.  My hope for housing is that the 10-year yield will be at least 2% by year’s end.  We do not need hyper-low mortgage interest rates.  This is not a recessionary market.   Just the opposite.  We need [...]

Published February 18, 2021

As most of you know, I’ve been a real estate attorney for over 40 years, a Realtor for the past 10.  I find I am using every skill set I have acquired in my lifetime, in navigating the current housing market frenzy. The temptation to sell a home on your own is great.  It seems so easy.  But don’t be [...]

1. Forward looking view to 2021.

We are blessed to live in an area which for most of us is well positioned to withstand the aftershock of this pandemic. Fortunately, the number of people moving to Florida has only increased.  The Annual National Migration Study by United Van Lines reported that in 2020 Sarasota was #2 “move in” metro [...]

Single Family & Condo Sales Report in Sarasota County

Home Sales: The economic story of the year.

Man plans, G-d decides.  We get comfortable and begin to think we are in control or at least some degree of control in setting the agenda for our lives.  Then the unexpected happens.  Geopolitical/economic events.  Reality steps [...]

Home prices reach an all-time high.

14 Years!  It has been a slow, steady, uphill crawl to get back to pre-Great Recession prices. 
This past quarter, August – October 2020, the median sold price of all homes (single family, condo and villa) nosed ahead of the previous all-time high, in early 2007.  It has taken 14 years for home [...]

A culmination of events beyond our control has resulted in a booming Seller’s Market. 

Home sales, new and resales, at all price points, whether it be single family, condos, villas or townhomes are slaying it.  Home prices are up, home building is up, pending sales are up, sold prices are way up.  [...]

Last month I reported home sales in Sarasota County rebounded in May.  1,215 pended sales in May 2020.  5% more than May 2019, Before COVID.  I called it a V-shaped recovery. That V-shaped recovery is continuing with increased alacrity.  In June, 1,452 homes and condos (resales) went under contract.  31% more than May 2020.  A [...]

  At the outset of COVID-19, I posited that housing will lead the recovery. Designated by the Governor as an “essential service”, as Realtors we continued to service the needs of buyers, many of whom sold their homes in our feeder markets, anxious to move to our area and begin their retirement.  Many were renting for the season and [...]