For months, the Sarasota-Manatee real estate market seemed to be waiting for someone to make the first move. In June, buyers finally did.
Closed and pending sales rose year over year for single-family homes and condos and townhomes in both Sarasota and Manatee counties. Meanwhile, active inventory fell by double digits in each of the four segments, leaving buyers with fewer choices—all this according to the latest data published by the Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee (RASM).
“We definitely have been getting more calls,” says Katie Cobb, a real estate adviser with Douglas Elliman Real Estate. The sharpest increase came in Manatee County, where 890 single-family homes sold in June, up 26.2 percent from a year earlier. New pending sales rose 22.8 percent to 716, suggesting the increase in closings may continue in the coming months…