The old rules governing a buyer’s and a seller’s market have been seriously adjusted in the time of COVID-19. Areas of the country where they never dreamed of running out of inventory and integrating buyers from major cities are still trying to figure it out while at the same time welcoming their good luck.
Realtor.com, after interviewing over 50 real estate agents in specific markets, has come up with the 10 top buying and selling markets nationwide. This analysis reflected closed sales for upper-end homes at $1 million or over.
A buyer’s market is something that we’re not remotely in right now in the Tampa Bay area, but since you never know when markets will turn, let’s establish some guidelines. The definition of a buyer’s market simply is one with more supply than demand. Santa Barbara County, California was at the top of the buyer’s market list with Santa Cruz County, California coming in at number 10. Florida had two counties on the list, Pinellas at number two and Collier at number four. Remember we’re talking about sales at $1 million or over.
A seller’s market is, of course, the opposite of a buyer’s market, defined as a market that has more demand than supply, with low levels of inventory and appreciating sales prices. Fairfax County, Virginia is at the top of the seller’s market analysis with Suffolk County, New York at the bottom. Florida has two counties on the top 10 list, Hillsborough County (Tampa) at number six and Broward County (Ft. Lauderdale) at number seven. Seller’s markets in this COVID cycle are typically suburban areas close to big employment centers that offer larger homes, property with office space and new construction.
Manatee County is certainly in a seller’s market, so potential buyers need to be cautious not to get in a bidding war and consider making an offer with an escalation addendum. Also eliminating all home sale contingencies like a mortgage will certainly put you in an advantageous position.
Now it’s time to review the October Manatee County sales statistics, reported by the Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee, to determine if October’s numbers are as good as September’s were.
Single-family sales numbers compared to October of last year are as follows: Closed sales, up 48.4%; median sale price, $360,000, up 10.4%; average sale price, $481,349, up 20.7%; median time to contract, 18 days, down 58.1%; month’s supply of available properties, 1.8 months, down 45.5%; pending inventory, up 44.5% and cash transactions, up 53.6%.
Condo sales numbers compared to October of last year are as follows: Closed sales, up 39%; median sale price, $255,000, up 34.2%; average sale price, $294,595, up 13.2%; median time to contract, 41 days, up 8.9%; month’s supply of available properties, 2.6 months, down 36.6%; pending inventory, up 71.9% and cash transactions, up 10%.
Not only were the October numbers as good as September, they surpassed them in almost every area. The market is indeed soaring in both Manatee and Sarasota counties, and where this merry-go-round stops, I don’t think anyone knows, certainly not me.
The old adage, “All real estate is local,” has been a little upended this year. However, the principals are the same and we’ll eventually fall back into a normal market. Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving.
