Season is over the reality check begins

On the Gulf Coast of Florida snowbird season is wrapping up.

The roads from Palmetto to Sarasota will be getting a little less hectic and the restaurant line ups a bit shorter.

And real estate agent and their clients are in for a reality check.

Many of the listing agents I talked to went on about the increase in activity in the market.

The reality is showings from tire kickers with dreams of grandeur while on vacation are one thing but actual sales are another.

Sales were down again in February and March isn't looking great either for the Sarasota/Manatee area.

What this means for the consumer is prices should probably keep falling a little longer possibly to the end of the second quarter.

After that the vision gets a little shaky. We could see some stabilization in pricing.

Anecdotally I have seen beach front lots drop considerably but the ones I looked at recently the price tag appears to have pretty much hit bottom.

For the luxury crowd this means the time for buying is now before that price tag starts to climb up again.

It will take a lot longer for the mid price range market to stabilize with the large amount of inventory out there.

For the unique properties like beach front and waterfront, well that stabilization might be quite a bit closer.

All the best
Greg Owens PA
Keller Williams Realty of Greater Manatee
941.932.6343
greg@teamworkslfa.com