The old adage that all real estate is local for the most part still holds. For instance, properties on Anna Maria Island have significantly different price points than properties in other areas of Manatee County. However, there is a global reset in one area since the entire real estate market around the world after COVID-19 has experienced a property boom.
Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the Asian markets are all struggling with the affordability of home prices. In most of these areas, as well as in the United States, the home price to income ratio is at a very high level; in some regions, the highest ever recorded. Governments are at a loss as to whether stepping in will help or hinder the marketplace. In China, efforts to slow down the market have been a failure and the rest of the world has been watching.
Homeowners who purchased their properties prior to the pandemic are substantially richer than they were on closing day. And Anna Maria Island may be the perfect example of what has happened during the last two years.
For several years I did a quarterly review of properties listed and sold over $1 million in the three cities on Anna Maria and Cortez. I’ve decided to change that analysis to every six months to better give a more consistent overall picture of the market. The following statistics are covering sales from May through October of this year, closing at or above $1 million as recorded by the Manatee County Property Appraiser’s office.
The city of Anna Maria closed 56 properties at or over $1 million, averaging slightly over nine properties per month. The highest sales were $6,800,000 and $6,750,000; there were three sales over $4 million; seven sales over $3 million; 13 sales over $2 million and the balance were $1 million or over.
The combined cities of Bradenton Beach and Holmes Beach closed 97 properties at or over $1 million, averaging slightly over 16 properties per month. The highest sale was for $5,450,000; there were three sales over $4 million; five sales over $3 million; 29 sales over $2 million and the balance were $1 million or over.
Cortez closed two sales, both over $1 million.
On the market or pending as of this writing in the city of Anna Maria, there are 35 properties $1 million or over. The highest is $16,500,000; there are two over $9 million; one over $6 million; one over $5 million; one over $4 million; six over $3 million; 12 over $2 million and 11 over $1 million.
The combined cities of Bradenton Beach and Holmes Beach have 61 properties on the market or pending as of this writing. The highest are $7,995,000 and $7,957,000; one over $6 million; one over $5 million; seven over $3 million; 16 over $2 million and 34 over $1 million.
Cortez has three properties; the highest is $4,750,000, a parcel of land at $1,300,000 and new construction in the Hunters Point development for $1,000,000.
If these numbers don’t blow you away, I don’t know what will. Some economists think it’s best to leave the market alone and let it find its own way, which I agree with. Most economists think that we will not have a 2008-type housing crash that was mostly created from poor lending standards, all of which have been tightened up.
There has been some very minor slowdown in sales in the national market recently, nevertheless, prices aren’t expected to fall significantly. Have a Happy Thanksgiving; we homeowners have much to be thankful for.
