Article
Buying Sarasota Condos
In most cases, Miami is held out as the most condo-crazed town not only in Florida but also in the United States. However examining this number in proportion to size, the Sarasota condo market is even crazier. Condo market developers have plans for 25,000 units in Miami's central business district, or one for every 24 of its 600,000 residents. The Sarasota condo market, however which caters to only a population of 55,000, gets one planned condo for every 19. Unsurprisingly, the general question on the brains of market players and observers is whether the stifling construction craze in the Sarasota condo market will counterweigh demand in order to drive the escalating prices back to ground.
The fact that real estate agents have been having difficulty selling Sarasota condos priced at $1 million or more for some time is a good indication that the high-end market is overdeveloped. Sarasota condos costing from $400,000 to $800,000 have been disappearing off the shelf, but real estate agents warn that Sarasota condo market might slow down by 2007 when constructions of nearly 1,000 new units are finished. No one can tell exactly how many of Sarasota condos have been bought by investors, but if the level of speculation is high, and a considerable percentage of those units find their way back onto the market, the natural law of supply and demand could depress prices. Nevertheless, the general consensus among buyers, real estate agents and analysts is that the Sarasota condos are definitely in better shape than those in other places across the country.
At The Plaza at Five Points Two-bedroom units , for example, began selling for around $650,000. Now they are being resold for as much as $760,000, a 17% appreciation, even if the certificates of occupancy are yet to be issued. Most real estate agents would concur that the upper end of marketing Sarasota condos remains rather cold. The number of $1 million-plus Sarasota condos greatly exceeds demand, and every development is struggling to sell penthouse units. Even so, real estate agents maintain optimism about the Sarasota condo market conditions. Michael Saunders & Co. not too long ago, reported that 314 units priced at over $1 million were listed on the Sarasota condos between the end of July 2004 and the end of July 2005. A sum of 157, or 50% of these, have been sold. This is interestingly more positive than the situation within the corresponding period a year prior, when there were 353 Sarasota condos listed in the same price range, and merely sold 108, or 30.5% of these. Knowing the faster rate of sales in 2005, the Saunders report concludes that it would take 5.5 months to work off the inventory of condo units costing between $1 million and $2 million, compared to 11.8 months at last year's supply and pace. Similar to this, it would take 14 months to sell all the units valued between $2 million and $3 million, compared to 25.9 months the year before.
A real estate agent with Prudential Palms Realty, Linda Page said "Inventory is moving faster at the high end." In addition, Linda invests in downtown property. She further cleverly remarked,” Beau Ciel had 14 sales of more than $1 million in 12 months. That's fabulous." Sarasota condos represent a significant value relative to other sectors of the real estate market. Condos priced $1 million and up are more appealing due to the fact that the bizarre boom at the lower end of the Sarasota condo market.
