Sarasota Florida Real Estate Sales Expected to Begin Improving in 2008
Information in part extracted from a recent National Association of Realtors News Release
Posted May 23, 2008
Nationally, the currrent flat or even declining pattern in home sales activity is expected by the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) to continue for the next couple of months before beginning to improve during this summer.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the extent of an expected recovery hinges on better access to affordable mortgage loans. The availability of affordable home mortgages is uneven around the country and
sometimes within metropolitan areas. Yun expects to see a soft first-half of 2008, for both housing and the economy, before notable improvements in the second half.
The Pending Home sales Index (PHSI) in the South slipped 0.1 percent to 84.9, 26.7% lower than last year. Existing home sales are projected to rise from an annual pace
of 4.95 million in the first quarter to 5.82 million in the fourth quarter of 2008. For all of 2008, existing-home sales nationally are likely to total 5.39 million, and then rise to 5.72 million in 2009.
But in Southwest Florida, bargain hunters have aleady begun to move in pushing April home sales up 5 percent in Sarasota - Bradenton and 6 percent in Charlotte County-North Port.
Even more promising, the rising sales of homes in Southwest Florida were accompanied by rising prices. Though prices continue to be lower than a year ago, the median Sarasota-Bradenton
home price was 12 percent higher in April than it was in March.
NAR predicts that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is likely to rise gradually to 6.2% by the end of this year and then average 6.3% in 2009.
The net of all this is that while, in much of the country, real estate sales are still in the doldrums, Sarasota Florida real estate prices are very likely at the bottom and are already moving back up.
If you have been considering whether or when to invest in Sarasota Florida real estate, now is the time to contact a competent Sarasota REMAX Realtor like Rich Stover or you may just miss out on a truly unique Sarasota real estate investment opportunity.
|
