Luxury Waterfront Sales Update - 2009 Pending Sales and Closed Sales

We are experiencing somewhat of an anomaly in Sarasota this late spring as we move into summer: luxury properties are selling late into the season, with more sales to come, as evidenced by the number of pending transactions in the Mid Florida Regional multiple listing service, as noted below.

Nothing gets a realtor and a seller more excited than to see positive momentum in closed transactions of luxury property! Year to date through May 6, we have seen 21 closed transactions in Sarasota county, for single family residential homes listed for a minimum of $1.5 million. The highest sale is $4.75 million at 552 S. Spoonbill on Bird Key (my listing and pictured above), and the lowest is $1.15 million at 7230 Manasota Key. There is also one higher sale for $7.125 million in Manatee county at 5871 Gulf of Mexico Drive.

Part of what makes this interesting is that 3 of these sales occurred in January; 3 in February, 4 in March, 8 in April, and 4 in the first 6 days of May, with an additional 15 pending sales that should close by mid July.

Based on vigorous showings as evidenced by the escalating number of appointments scheduled through the Michael Saunders & Company call center, we, at Michael Saunders & Company, are anticipating continued strength in these sales throughout the summer. The buyers are realizing some pretty significant price reductions and making wise purchasing decisions at this time.

Stay tuned for more market updates on the luxury waterfront market in Sarasota. I look forward to keeping you informed.

DEBORAH BEACHAM REPRESENTS SARASOTA'S TOP SALE FOR 2009

At MSC, It’s Never Lonely at the Top - Deborah Beacham Represents Sarasota’s Top Sale for 2009 May 06th, 2009 | Category: Properties, The Real Estate Market

The following is reprinted from the Michael Saunders Blog posted May 6th, 2009:

With all the chatter about the difficulties in today’s market, it would seem highly unlikely that anyone could achieve a feat of success and record-breaking significance. However, it is with much delight that we announce the recent momentous sale courtesy of the determined, market savvy Deborah Beacham of our South Longboat Key office. Along with the final closing signatures for the expansive waterfront property she represented at 552 S. Spoonbill Drive on Bird Key, Deborah earned recognition for Sarasota’s highest sale thus far in 2009. At a sold price of $4.75 million, this Bird Key property sits atop the growing mountain of Sarasota area sales we are processing, with many more sure to follow. Congratulations, Deborah!

IN MARCH, PENDING SALES RISE IN SARASOTA

The following article appears in today's Sarasota Herald Tribune, authored by Aaron Kessler. Aaron interviewed me for this article as it relates to the luxury market and pending sales. Here is the full text from this article.

March 2009 sales up 33 percent over February;

April 16, 2009
*The following press release was sent to local media on April 16

March 2009 Sales Up 33 Percent Over February
Single Family Median Sale Price Rebounds


The Sarasota real estate market saw sales rise to the highest level of the year in March 2009, besting the previous month by 33 percent. In addition, the median sales price for single family homes rose after steadily declining since late last year, indicating a potential sign of the bottoming of the local market.

The overall sales level of 481 was the highest since June 2008, and nearly equaled the level of 504 sales reported in March 2008. Of those sales, 353 were single family homes while 128 were condominiums.

The good news also extended to pending sales, which once again rose in March 2009 to 817. The last time pending sales climbed over 800 was in March 2006, when pending sales also were reported at 817. The total of 817 was 21 percent higher than the 679 pending sales reported in March 2008.

According to statistics from the Mid-Florida Regional MLS for members of the Sarasota Association of Realtors®, 645 single family homes and 175 condominiums went under contract in March 2009, compared to only 471 homes and 208 condos in March 2008.

Pending sales have now exceeded the 500 level for the 15th consecutive month, and the statistic bodes well for the next two or three months, when many of these pendings will become closed sales. Pending sales reflect contracts executed by buyers and sellers during the month. The report continues to reflect a steady, strong pattern, and indicates buyers are more active in the Sarasota market even in the face of difficult economic times.

"We believe the current climate of historically low interest rates, major incentives for first-time homebuyers, and the many other government programs designed to stabilize the economy and the housing industry is all having a very positive impact," said 2009 SAR President Bill Geller. "Every downturn is followed by an upturn - we know this to be true historically. We've been through a difficult time in the real estate industry, and hopefully we are seeing the beginnings of a new, dynamic era."

The recently enacted first-time homebuyers' tax credit of $8,000 will likely continue to boost sales this year, Geller said. Those who meet eligibility requirements and purchase a home this year prior to Dec. 1 are eligible for a tax credit of up to $8,000, and unlike the 2008 tax credit, this one does not have to be repaid.

The median sale price for single family homes rose to $152,125 in March 2009 from $142,000 in February 2009 - a 7 percent increase. The median sales price for condominiums fell to $166,750 in March 2009 from $198,000 in February 2009, for a 15 percent drop.

The median price of all single family homes sold in the last 12 months was $217,000, compared to a median of $299,900 for the 12 months ending in March 2008. For condominiums sold in the last 12 months, the median sales price was $256,000, compared to last year's figure of $295,000.

Another important market tracker - the absorption rate of properties on the market - continues to track lower than last year at this time for both single family homes and condominiums, as inventories have declined. Absorption rate is the number of months it would take to sell the entire remaining listed inventory in a particular category, based upon the sales for that particular month.

For March 2009, the absorption rate for single family homes stood at 17.1 months, compared to 24.1 months the previous month and 25.1 months in March 2008. For condominiums, the absorption rate was at 21.2 months, lower than the 28.5 months in the previous month, and much lower than the 34.1 months reported in March 2008.

*A 12-month rolling median price is not as susceptible to the volatility that can occur within any particular month, which sometimes results in drastic statistical swings up or down from one month to the next.

Click HERE for a PDF of the press release and two pages of statistical charts.

Sarasota Luxury Waterfront Sales Update

As of April 11, 2009, we have had 13 single family waterfront sales listed at or above $1.5 million, county-wide in Sarasota. The highest sale, 5871 Gulf of Mexico drive, closed at $7.125m in February. This was for a gulf front property on Longboat Key, built in 2008, 7,046 square feet of living area on just over an acre of land.

The next highest sale was the property at 784 Dream Island Rd, also on Longboat Key, which sold for $3m in January, for a 3,780 sq ft home on 1.5 acres of bayfront property.

The other 11 properties ranged in sales price from $1.150m to $2.9m and 4 of these were sales on Manasota Key, which had almost no activity in 2008.

The good news is there are 19 additional sales pending with list prices ranging from $1.5m to $5.550m, and these are all anticipated to close by the end of May. I will be updating these sales on the blog, so watch for the reports.

The Rich Take a Hit As Well

Published: Monday, March 23, 2009 at 1:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, March 20, 2009 at 11:42 a.m.
Southwest Florida's real estate market has always had something of a dual personality -- the high-end waterfront properties catering to the affluent, and the "normal" market inhabited by everyone else.

The high-end retreats of the islands have operated in their own universe sometimes, as it was thought money flooding in from the well-to-do around the country and the world would cushion the blow of any regional economic challenges.

Of course, now we are in the midst of a global financial crisis, with economies around the world sputtering and stock markets struggling. The real estate market, fed by a Wild West atmosphere of lawless lending and speculation during the boom years, got completely out of control and is largely responsible for sparking this disaster. The upper bracket of properties have not been immune -- they are in this mess with the rest of us.

So it may be natural to ask, with 2008 likely to go down as one of the worst economic years in modern history, did people still buy those million-dollar Sarasota mansions on the beach and bay? And how much of a hit did sellers have to take to move those homes?

Deborah Beacham, an agent with Michael Saunders & Co. specializing in high-end properties, recently put together a report looking at just that issue -- looking specifically at single-family homes (no condos) in 2008 that were listed at $1.5 million and up and had either a waterfront view or boating water. Beacham grouped sales by locale: Bird Key, Casey Key, Lido/St. Armands, Longboat Key, Mainland Waterfront, and Siesta Key.

Beacham found while the total volume of such sales was down 20 percent overall -- $218.3 million in 2008 compared to $271.4 million in 2007 -- that "many individual properties retained most of their value" in 2008 compared with 2007. That does not mean buyers were not getting a discount off the list prices. On average, most properties in that upper bracket sold for about 82 percent to 86 percent of their asking prices in 2008. But those figures are about the same as how similar properties performed in 2007.

Now, a few caveats are in order, the first being that nothing compares to what was going on during the boom. Beacham found that if you bought a high-end waterfront property during the height of the boom in 2005-06, you were unlikely to be in the black these days. But for those who bought such homes prior to the boom, their values were still holding steady enough today that they are in profitable territory.

The other caveat I'll add is that the bulk of the 2008 crash really began in earnest in September, and so a buyer who bought in March 2008 likely had a different set of calculations than one who did in November.

But that said, back to the numbers.

Beacham found that the number of sales was the same or higher in 2008 on Lido and Longboat, as well as for the mainland waterfront. Sales were slightly down on Siesta Key, dropping from 24 in 2007 to 21 in 2008. But overall, not bad.

One place where there was a noticeable collapse of sales was on Bird Key, where only 6 homes valued at $20 million sold in 2008, compared with 15 homes at $58 million on 2007. The lack of action on Bird Key may show that even rich buyers are focused intently on price just like everyone else these days -- as the average ratio of sales price versus list price was 90 percent on Bird Key, the highest of any area studied.

What is more, that 90 percent figure is exactly what it was on Bird Key for 2007 sales, too, suggesting that Bird Key sellers were sticking to their asking prices, Beacham's report found.

By contrast, every other area studied in the report -- ones that already had lower sales-list price ratios to begin with compared to Bird Key -- saw even further drops of between 1 to 3 percentage points in 2008 compared to 2007. This would seem to indicate those sellers were more willing to negotiate in 2008 as the market continued to fall. Siesta Key sellers, for example, settled for 83 percent of their asking prices in 2008, compared to 86 percent in 2007.

It is interesting as well that the Bird Key homes took longer to sell on average in 2008, 292 days, compared to 2007's average of 246 days. So basically Bird Key sellers stuck their guns, and buyers decided they would be better off elsewhere.

Even for the rich, it seems, it is definitely a buyers' market these days in Sarasota.


This story appeared in print on page D12, Sarasota Herald Tribune, March 23, 2009, by Aaron Kessler

Pending sales rise to highest level in three years in February 2009

Pending sales in the Sarasota real estate market once again rose in February 2009, hitting 782 - the highest level since April 2006, a three year period. According to statistics from the Mid-Florida Regional MLS for members of the Sarasota Association of Realtors®, 611 single family homes and 171 condominiums were reported under contract in February, almost 100 more than the 683 pending sales reported in January 2009, and 19 percent higher than the 654 pendings reported in February 2008.

Pending sales have now exceeded the 500 level for the 14th consecutive month, and the statistic bodes well for the next two or three months, when many of these pendings will become closed sales. Pending sales reflect contracts executed by buyers and sellers. The report continues to reflect a steady, strong pattern, and indicates buyers are more active in the Sarasota market even in the face of difficult economic times.

For further info, click here.

Sarasota Association of Realtors Reports January 2009 Sales

January 2009 Pending Sales Jump Almost 18 Percent

In the face of national economic doom and gloom, pending sales in the Sarasota real estate market rose to 683 in January 2009 as reported by members of the Sarasota Association of Realtors®, topping the 500 level for the 13th month in a row.

Pending sales last month were much higher than the 516 reported in January 2008, which indicates that local real estate has bucked the national downward to some extent. Pending sales reflect contracts executed by buyers and sellers. The recent numbers demonstrate a steady, strong pattern, indicating buyers have become more active in the Sarasota market as the traditional season heats up.

“These are certainly historic times for our nation’s economy, and we must be realistic and understand that higher unemployment and the recession impacts everyone,” said 2009 SAR President Bill Geller. “But we must also understand that even during downturns, opportunities exist for savvy buyers. The Sarasota market is blessed with tremendous, high quality properties, and the lower prices have made this area a goldmine of opportunity. With the guidance of a well-trained, professional local Realtor®, buyers can be assured that they will find the perfect property in today’s market environment.”

Overall closed sales in the first month of 2009 stood at 319, compared to 327 in January 2008, a year-to-year decline of only 2.4 percent. Sales totaled 406 December 2008, but the monthly decline was expected, especially during a four-year election cycle, when real estate activity often sees a lull prior to a new administration taking office.

The recent signing of the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, plus the Obama administration’s enactment of the $75 billion Housing Support and Foreclosure Prevention program should help improve the real estate markets even more
in the months ahead, said Geller.

Click HERE for a PDF of the press release and two pages of statistical charts.

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 authorizes a tax credit of up to $8,000 for qualified first-time home buyers purchasing a principal residence on or after January 1, 2009 and before December 1, 2009.

The following questions and answers provide basic information about the tax credit. If you have more specific questions, we strongly encourage you to consult a qualified tax advisor or legal professional about your unique situation.

Click here for FAQs.