Recent Market Headlines

Well, the most recent housing market statistics are in and all over the print and electronic media...and causing all manner of conversation.
The story this month is that in the Sarasota/Bradenton market, home sales increased by 16% over last April and the median price (the median is the number where half of the prices are more and half are less)  dropped by 2%.
Our regular readers and customers already knew what happened in Venice, and they knew it in the first week of May.  In fact, in Venice, the median price has risen 10% and sales are off 10%... just the opposite of what is being reported for the greater Sarasota area.

REVIEW TIME

For our new readers, a brief review is in order.  We are always working to assist and educate our customers when it comes digesting the news and making decisions...Lets begin with what is meant by the 'Sarasota Bradenton Market'. 

This refers, in general, to the Sarasota/Bradenton/Venice Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). 
This geographic area is defined by the US Government's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and is used in all manner of Federally related reports.  The National Association of Realtors and the Florida Association of Realtors use these existing boundries when compiling statistical reports.  The Sarasota MSA actually includes all of Sarasota and Manatee Counties, including the cities of Longboat Key, Bradenton, Sarasota, Venice and North Port.
These reports are very helpful in charting the overall stregth (or weakness) of a particular market or the national market overall, however, it does little to assist the local buyer or seller.
Remember, what are the three most important words in Real Estate?  Location, location and location.  It does a homeowner trying to price a home for purchase or sale in southern Sarasota County or North Port very little good to make decisions based on data that includes Northern Manatee county.   These MSA bsed reports take the better part of a month to collect data, be prepared and released, further diminishing their relevance to someone actively engaged in the real estate market as either  a buyer or a seller.  Finally, there can be, and usually is, disparity in the trends between the specific local Venice area (or any area within the MSA for that matter) and the overall MSA.

This is why we counsel our customers to be a discriminating consumer of news, and to pay attention to the source and scope of any information they encounter in the media.  This is not to diminish the veracity or accuracy of these reports, just to put them in the proper prospective.  Our exclusive market tracking is available immediately after the end of the month, with only a few days lag time to allow for agents entering closed sales from the end of the month.  Our customers that are actively engaged in either buying or selling have access to data that describes the market activity in a way that helps them understand the market and make better informed decisions with confidence.  For instance, our customers already knew, for at least three weeks, that the actual sales volume in the Venice Area for April 2007 was down 10-12%, depending on which statistical model is used, and the median sales price was up.  They also know that this bump in prices is to be expected at this time of year, and can look back to prior years to help them better understand what is next (flat or declining prices).  They can make effective decisions based on real time data before anyone else even knows about the market trends, and be halfway through their inspections and well on thier way to closing by the time the national and MSA statistics come out!

By way of full disclosure, and for any professionals who may be wondering about our methodology, we are currently extracting data using the ARIS Multiple Listing Service 'distributed' (as opposed to the web-based) version.  We use the MLS search component, specifying single family homes, in the Venice Area (34 individual MLS areas), from there, we specify the various indicators (expired listings, sales etc.).

We then download the entire report of sold listings, from which we extrapolate the average days on the market, and the sales price as a percentage of the  original list price,(in addition to and not just, the percent of the last listed price, which everyone else quotes).  This information is stored in a spreadsheet and is used to compile the reports that can only be found on our website's exclusive access area here.  Our customers know to check this link every month for up to date data that noone else goes to the trouble of compiling.  Just one more example of Jan and I going the extra mile in the interests of our customers, and helping them to better understand the markets, ultimately to become more educated consumers, not  only for any current  transactions, but as they postition themselves for the future.
  

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