Tuesday, November 28, 2017

U.S. home sales surge as inventory plunges

Sarasota Herald Tribune

Americans bought new homes in October at the fastest pace in a decade — a 6.2 percent monthly increase that reflects both the underlying strength of the economy and the worsening shortage of existing homes for sale.
The Commerce Department said Monday that new-home sales last month rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 685,000. That marks the third straight monthly gain and the best sales clip since October 2007. Much of the sales growth came from the Northeast and Midwest, with the South and West posting smaller increases.
According to the October 2017 housing data released last week by the Florida Realtors organization, sales, median prices, new listings and new pending sales rose even as the inventory of for-sale properties remained constrained in many areas. Sales of single-family homes statewide totaled 20,543 last month, up 2 percent compared to October 2016.
Across the country, the number of sales listings for existing homes tumbled 10.4 percent from a year earlier to just 1.8 million, according to the National Association of Realtors. That’s the fewest number of homes on the market for any October since the Realtors began tracking the data in 1999.
New construction can only offset some of this supply crunch.
There is only 4.9 months’ supply of newly-built homes on the market, the lowest reading since July 2016.
In the Sunshine State, October’s for-sale inventory remained tight with a 3.8-months’ supply for single-family homes and a 5.6-months’ supply for condo-townhouse properties, according to Florida Realtors.
Locally, inventory for single family homes in Manatee County increased by 3.3 percent from last year, while Sarasota decreased by 4.4 percent. Condo inventory improved with a 2.9 percent increase in Sarasota and 0.7 percent increase in Manatee.
The month’s supply of inventory is indicated by the number of months it will take to deplete the current inventory, given the recent sales rates. For Sarasota County, condos are at a 4.9 month supply and single family homes are at a 3.9 months supply. In Manatee County, condos are a 4.1 month supply, while single family homes sit at 4.2 months.
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Tuesday, November 14, 2017

North Port takes steps to split West Villages from Venice zip code



Sarasota Herald Tribune - Nov 13,2017
By Earle Kimel 
Staff Writer 
NORTH PORT — In hopes of having the question settled before the 2020 census, North Port city commissioners on Monday took the first of several steps that could lead to the West Villages area having its zip code affiliated with the city and not with Venice.
First, the commission directed City Manager Peter Lear to provide an update to the U.S. Postal Service on the current and future development of the West Villages and to ask about the agency’s plans for additional zip codes for the area.
Next, the commission agreed to host a town hall meeting in the West Villages on the relationship between the development district and the city; and finally, it directed city staff to increase outreach efforts to highlight for West Villages residents the services and activities North Port offers.
None of that received a warm welcome by West Villages residents in the crowd — most of whom live in either Island Walk or Gran Paradiso and who bought their homes partly because of the cache of a Venice zip code, regardless of where they pay property taxes.
Nor were they particularly pleased with City Commissioner Debbie McDowell who — after she explained that the property appraiser told her that comparable sales values and nearby amenities impacted home values, but zip codes do not — said they were duped by their seller, if they thought they were buying into Venice.
“It sounds like North Port has an inferiority complex,” said Ruth Thurber, a Gran Paradiso resident who previously lived in Port Charlotte and Lakewood Ranch. “My husband and I wanted to be in Venice. We know we’re paying taxes in North port and not Venice.
“Please don’t insult us and say we were duped; we’re intelligent people, we know where we bought,” she added. “We know what our property values are in Venice address as well as the North Port address.”
Michael Sepot followed by saying the property appraiser doesn’t have a clue about the real estate market“You’ll never find a bank who would use a city appraiser for any mortgage,” said Sepot, who later added, “perception is reality for the people who have that perception.”
Read more - Link to Article  



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Wednesday, November 8, 2017

Home prices in Sarasota-Manatee continue to climb

Home prices in Sarasota-Manatee continue to climb

Home prices in the Sarasota-Manatee region failed to keep pace with the state and national averages in September but still climbed over the year.
Single-family home prices rose 3.8 percent over the year in the two-county area, data provider CoreLogic reported Tuesday. That slipped behind increases of 6.2 percent in Florida and 7.0 percent in the U.S., CoreLogic said.
Prices jumped a more robust 7.6 percent in Charlotte County.
Charlotte ranked 84th and Sarasota-Manatee 256th for home-price appreciation among the 402 metro areas covered in the report.
Florida price gains ranked 16th in the nation. But home values in the state remain about 18 percent off their pre-recession peak.
“Heading into the fall, home price growth continues to grow at a brisk pace,” said Frank Nothaft, chief economist at CoreLogic. “This appreciation reflects the low for-sale inventory that is holding back sales and pushing up prices. The CoreLogic Single-Family Rent Index rose about 3 percent over the last year, less than half the rise in the national Home Price Index.”
Prices in Florida are expected to lift 6.9 percent in the coming 12 months, higher than the 4.7 percent U.S. forecast, CoreLogic said.

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SARASOTA / BRADENTON HOUSING 3Q17:Metrostudy

SARASOTA / BRADENTON HOUSING 3Q17: Hurricane Irma Impact is Limited as Quarterly New Home Starts are at Post-Recession Highs



  • Quarterly New Home Starts are up 3.4% YoY while Annual Starts are down 0.4% from 3Q16 levels
  • Affordability is getting squeezed in the lower price points as new home starts under $250k are down 20% YoY.
  • Despite Hurricane Irma, quarterly starts were the best we have seen post-recession. Sarasota-Bradenton is now building about 120% of the twenty year moving average. Irma may push some closings into 2018, but she did not materially impact our forecast for increasing housing starts in 2018 for Sarasota.



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Sunday, November 5, 2017

Upcoming Venice Events.



Come out & enjoy the fun!
Venice Farmer's Market
Every Saturday in 2017 & 2018
May - December 8am-12pm
(January - April 8am-1pm)
Tampa Ave. West

30th Annual Venice Art Festival
November 4-5th, 10am-5pm
West Venice Ave.

Chalk Festival
November 10-13th, 8am-6pm
Venice Airport Festival Grounds

Venice Blues Crawl
November 17th, 5pm-10pm
Downtown Venice (Miami Ave.)

Venice Blues Festival
November 18th, 11am-7pm
Maxine Barritt Park (1800 S. Harbor Dr.)

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