It’s Thanksgiving, and we in Florida have enjoyed a more than spectacular run of weather somewhere between good and fantastic. However, the most fantastic thing we have to be grateful for is no hurricanes this year after last year’s devastation.
Something else to be grateful for if you’re a condo owner is an update to the laws mandating building milestone inspections. The Florida legislation on mandatory milestone inspections for condominiums, enacted after the 2021 Surfside collapse, provides specific exceptions for certain building types. Subsequent laws have refined these exemptions, mostly notably by using the concept of “habitable stories.”
The “habitable stories” clarification is a 2025 legislative update (HB 913) which clarified that a milestone inspection is required only for buildings with three or more habitable stories. This means that a three-story building where one or more floors are for non-habitable uses like parking may be exempt.
In addition, the Structural Integrity Reserve Study (SIRS) requirement, which mandates that associations fully fund reserves for major repairs, shares similar exemptions.
Also, these dwellings with three or fewer habitable stories above ground are exempt: Single-family homes, two-family dwellings (duplexes), three-family dwellings (triplexes) and four-family dwellings (quadruplexes), as added by 2024 legislation (HB 1021).
When the initial law was passed in 2021 stating that three-story buildings were part of the inspection mandate, there were a lot of questions about condos that were two stories over parking, a popular design on Anna Maria Island and the surrounding areas. Unfortunately, it took the legislation four years to clarify what they really meant with the simple word “habitable.” This omission created extra work and expense for condominiums that were two habitable stories but were considered three stories in the original law.
Let’s see what the Manatee County sales statistics are for the month of October reported by the Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee. As you read these statistics, keep in mind that in October 2024, Hurricane Milton impacted all of Manatee County.
Single-family homes closed 26.8% more properties this year compared to last year. The median sale price this year was $481,000, an increase of 0.2% from last year, and the average sale price was $616,842, an increase of 1% from last year. The median time to contract was 55 days compared to 60 days last year and there were 42.4% new listings in October this year compared to last year. The month’s supply of available properties was 4.2 months compared to 3.9 months last year.
Condos closed 8.0% more properties this October compared to last year. The median sale price was $292,500, down 10.8% from last year, and the average sale price was $333,774, down 6.9% from last year. The median time to contract was 86 days compared to 75 days last year, and there were 44.4% new listings this year compared to last year. The month’s supply of available properties was 6.3 months compared to 6 months last year.
The strong increase in statistics is nice to see, however, please note that comparisons are skewed by the sharp drop in activity during the October 2024 hurricane season. In reality, the recent trends point to a market that is rebalancing and stabilizing with the help of a mild hurricane season
There are still residents of Manatee County and in particular Anna Maria Island and the coastal communities working on repairs to their homes and roofs from Helene and Milton. Nevertheless, most of us are feeling cautiously happy, and this is really something to be thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving.
