What are people from Miami seeing when they home-shop in this Florida area? The price

People from the Miami area who move elsewhere in Florida often look to the central and southwest parts of the state, including Bradenton.

What are they finding there?

High home prices that have just gotten higher.

KNOW MORE: People from Miami are moving to a growing Florida area. What’s happening there?

Just when the median price for existing single-family homes seemed to be trending down month-to-month, the Bradenton market set a record in April of $570,000.

That compares to a median price of $491,988 in March 2023, and $515,000 in April 2022, according to the Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee.

While the median price was up, fewer Bradenton area homes changed hands in April than a year ago: 662 versus 692.

Homes were also taking longer to sell and sellers weren’t always getting their asking price.

The median time to contract was 28 days in April, compared to five days a year ago.

No immune price point

Rob Sartore, an associate with ReMax Platinum Realty, says he is consistently seeing price reductions by sellers for single-family homes and condos.

“No price point is immune. It’s happening across the board on high-end properties to lower mid-range properties. This is because those homes were overpriced and a direct result of the fallout from the pandemic buying spree aberration that existed until June 2022,” Sartore said.

“Sellers that still want to overprice their homes are experiencing longer wait times to sell those homes, and that’s because buyers are being more careful about their home choices now. Nonetheless, some properties will sell in one day if they are appropriately priced and are perceived as a good value by the buyer,” he said.

Condos and townhouses

In the Manatee County condo and townhouse market, the median sales price in April was $380,795, a 9% increase from the same month a year ago.

There were 256 closed sales of condos and townhouse in April in the Bradenton area, down 9% from the same month a year ago.

During April in Sarasota County, the median price for existing single-family houses was $520,000, up 8% from a year ago. There were 747 closed sales during the month, down 6% from a year ago.

Sarasota condo and townhouse sales fell 23% year to year, while the median price rose 1% to $399,000.

Pending sales showed signs of growth, while closed sales and new listings declined, reflecting an evolving market, according to the Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee.

The real estate market in North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton demonstrates a mixed scenario with rising prices and growth for pending sales, but a decrease in closed sales and new listings, Brian Tresidder, Realtor association president, said in a press release.

Pending sales in Florida

Pending sales, or the number of homes that went under contract in April, increased across all markets except for Sarasota County single-family homes.

For single-family homes, pending sales increased year-over-year by 30.2% in Manatee County, but decreased by 12.5% in Sarasota. Condo pending sales increased by 4% in Manatee and by 7% in Sarasota.

For condos, this is the first year-over-year increase in pending sales reported since May of 2021.

“The increase in the median time to contract and month’s supply of inventory indicates a changing market, necessitating informed decision-making for all stakeholders,” Tresidder said.

Buyers, sellers, and agents need to be realistic for the market to prosper, Sartore said.

“Offers that are 10% under the list price should still be considered or at least countered. Motivated sellers that want to sell quickly with the best-valued home for the money will set the price properly from the beginning. They won’t have to worry about the house sitting on the market for three months and they will still come away with a healthy margin,” Sartore said.