Blue Skies in the Forecast

As appeared
Michael Saunders@Home
May, 2009

The news out of our market has been more encouraging since the last issue of Saunders@Home. After months and months of stormy skies, we are noticing large patches of blue over Southwest Florida. Closed and pending sales have been steadily ticking upwards for months; and March was clearly no exception. Sales of single-family homes in Sarasota-Bradenton were up eight percent over last March and up 35 percent over last month. Even more heartening was the official news that for the first time in a long time, the median price for a single-family home in Sarasota-Bradenton rose by four percent between February and March.

Now that season is winding down I am delighted to report that the flurry of activity in our real estate market isn’t. Snowbirds and spring breakers may be headed north, but call volume to MS&C’s Appointment Center hit a record high last week; and our agents are busier than ever showing properties and writing contracts. In just one day, we set 318 appointments for property showings. The next day we logged 307; unheard of even in the headiest days of the boom.

Our total March call volume of 6,093 was the highest ever recorded in the nine-year history of the Appointment Center; and was nearly 18 percent higher than in March of 2004 when the boom was in full swing. Moreover, recent buyers are wasting no time informing friends and families about the unprecedented buying opportunities that have led to such a dramatic resumption in sales. We fully expect the summer to be unusually busy and productive.