Anna Maria Island Real Estate Sales Blog

Yesterday's Sarasota Herald-Tribune carried an article quoting John van Zandt, Realtor. Here's the bulk of the article.

Signs of life in real estate

By Michael Braga and Tom Bayles
STAFF WRITERS

Charlotte County-North Port popped out a surprising 13 percent rise in sales during March.

John van Zandt, an agent with Island Real Estate on Anna Maria Island, is seeing that possibility in his territory.

There were 22 sales of single-family homes during the first three months of 2008 on the island, compared with 27 during the same period a year earlier, and the average price per square foot was $404 this year, compared with $390 last year, van Zandt said.

"If we get another quarter in which selling price is close to that same number -- around $400 per square foot -- I think we can say we've reached the bottom and may be starting up," van Zandt said.

But condominiums are a different story. Even though there were 19 sales for the first three months of this year, compared with 16 during the same period last year, the average price per square foot is still falling. It was $331 this year, compared with $414 last year, van Zandt said.

Going forward, he predicts an increase in the number of sales but that values will remain low.

"Sellers are having to make significant concessions to get buyers to sign," van Zandt said. "We just have so much inventory, and buyers are cherry pickers."

Price was the driving factor in the boosted sales in the Charlotte County-North Port market, where 268 homes changed hands in March, compared with 237 in the year-ago period, the Florida Association of Realtors reported Tuesday.

The median sales price was $152,200 last month in the market, the lowest since February 2004's $147,100.

"Realtors are being a little more aggressive with their clients to stop chasing the curve," said Missy Becker of Punta Gorda's Re/Max Harbor Realty and a Realtor for 23 years. "That's what's been clogging up the market."

Becker is seeing most of the sales gains in lower-end properties such as $45,000 condos or $35,000 mobile homes, and in homes priced below the curve. She expects prices to continue to fall.

"We're not at the bottom yet; there still is way too much inventory," she said. "I think we're close, but we're not there yet."

Whether the regional, state and national markets are near a pricing bottom is a matter of considerable debate.

The $152,200 median for Charlotte County-North Port in March feels like a bottom to Robbie Sifrit, an agent at Five Star Realty of Charlotte County.

"What you'll see in the next report is a stronger number of sales because we've seen a lot of homes go into pending in the last three weeks," he said.

His agency is selling homes in all price ranges, closing on one this week for about $100,000 after closing on one last week for about $900,000, Sifrit said.

Like its southern neighbor, the Sarasota-Bradenton market hit a median sales price that had not been seen since early 2004. Its $239,300 median was the lowest price since $235,700 in April 2004.

Unlike Charlotte County-North Port, the more northern market had its sales drop last month, by 15 percent. There were 709 sales, compared with 834 in March 2007.

Copyright 2008 Sarasota Herald-Tribune