To say that a combination of Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton less than two weeks apart changed the lives of everyone on Anna Maria Island and most of the coastal areas of Manatee County would be a gross understatement. Some areas came back sooner than others, but everyone was influenced by the storms and shocked at the amount of cleanup and repairs needed to get their lives back fully on track.
Last week we reviewed the Manatee County sales statistics provided by the Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee along with their accompanying news release. Essentially, they’re saying our real estate market all over the county is changing to a buyer’s market, no surprise there. The surprise is how fast it happened and how fast fortunes can disappear.
I haven’t made a comparison of listings compared to pending properties in a long time, but in view of this month’s numbers, it’s probably time; please note the listings include all variety of properties.
Starting with the City of Anna Maria, as of this writing, there are 70 properties available for sale ranging from $20 million to $549,900. There are nine in the upper range above $6 million, 38 in the mid-range and 23 at $2 million and lower. The upper range listings had no pending properties, the mid-range had three pending properties and the lower range had five pending properties, for a total of eight pending properties out of 70 listings.
The combined cities of Holmes Beach and Bradenton Beach had 232 listings as of this writing, ranging from $16,750,000 to $60,000. There were 14 properties in the upper range above $6 million, 46 properties in the mid-range and 30 properties in the lower range below $2 million. The upper range did not have any pending properties, the mid-range had two pending properties, and the lower range had 32 pending properties. The total listings combined in the three cities on Anna Maria Island were 302 with 40 pending – you do the math.
The village of Cortez had 32 properties listed ranging from $3,899,000 to $79,500 with two pending.
Although we experienced devastating storms, giving our real estate market an unexpected blow, the country as a whole is also experiencing a downward market. Data from the real estate analytics firm CoreLogic shows nearly 73,000 homes were pulled from the market after they failed to find a buyer in the final month of last year.
Sellers are reluctant to take lower prices especially if it means giving up their ultra-low mortgage rates. Home sales in 2024 were at their lowest level in nearly 30 years. Eventually sellers will slowly be more realistic if they need to sell because of a job, growing family or other life events that can’t be delayed. Green Street, another analytics firm, predicts that U.S. home prices are vulnerable to a correction.
On the other hand, the luxury home market is putting a lot of pressure on the entry level home market. As prices go up in the luxury market, it takes everything below right along with it. This is true in the Miami area with their influx of the super-rich moving the annual number of home sales above $1 million up 147% compared to 2019.
Sometimes life-changing events are good to reset our priorities in life and remind us how quickly things can change. Keep cleaning, keep painting and be happy – you still can.
