There is no doubt that the Sarasota real estate market is growing exponentially. Prices are ever-increasing, but at a healthy rate, and experts predict that property value will increase by 3.4 percent in 2021, according to LivingVogue. Therefore, the city is leaning towards a sellers’ market, thereby making investing in Sarasota real estate a lucrative venture.
The median home price for the Sarasota real estate market is $223,600. In addition, homes in Sarasota are approximately $15,000 more compared to the national average. The price difference is attributed to Sarasota’s faster appreciation rates than the rest of the country, with 7.6 and 5.7 percent, respectively. However, the appreciation rate was higher in the last three years at 43.4 percent, while the national average was 28.2 percent. This shows that investing in Sarasota real estate has been lucrative, and this is expected to go on in 2021.
In the last 3 years, appreciation rates have removed the Sarasota real estate market from a period of post-recession cost weakness. Homeowners have been reintroduced to equity, which was long gone. To put equity gains into perspective, consider the following insights:
- Homes purchased over 1 year ago have appreciated by an average of $18,969, while the national average for the same period is $14,170.
- Homes purchased in Sarasota 3 years ago have appreciated averagely by $75,501, while the national average was $53,857 for the same period under review.
- Houses purchased over 5 years ago in Sarasota have appreciated averagely by $65,729, while the national average was $48,036 for the same period under review.
- Homes bought in Sarasota 7 years ago have depreciated by up to $25,173, while the national average increased by an average of $13,870 for the same period under review.
- Homes bought in Sarasota 9 years ago have depreciated by up to $97,166, while the national average has been $2,822 for the same period.
Supply and demand in Sarasota has been growing, which has certainly benefited the local economy. Particularly, job opportunities in Sarasota are increasing faster than the national average. In addition, unemployment in Sarasota is lower than in the rest of the country.
With strong employment fundamentals in place, the Sarasota real estate market is affordable. This means Sarasota homes are more affordable than most markets nationally. While the average city homeowner spends 15% of their income on mortgage payments, Sarasota homeowners spend 9.7%. Affordability continues to improve, and this is a trend that will continue in 2021, going by current statistics.
The number of foreclosures could have a big impact on the Sarasota real estate industry. From the many foreclosures in Sarasota today, 55.3% will be up for auction. The number had increased from 52% last year. However, pre-foreclosures have declined during the previous year, and this figure now stands at 24.2%. All these trends described above suggest that the Sarasota real estate industry will continue to thrive in 2021 and beyond.