Record-Breaking Sales The year 2015 was one for the record books in real estate sales for both Sarasota and Manatee counties, closing out the year with an all-time record of 20,691 in combined closed transactions, 1,302 sales above last year’s numbers. “These truly are exciting times for the real estate community, and reflects the hard [...]

Local Home Sales

Homes sales in Southwest Florida hit a second-straight record in 2015, again outpacing the historic boom of the mid-2000s. The frenzied pace, driven by a stronger economy and pent-up demand from current and future retirees, came in a market teeming with double-digit price hikes and a dwindling supply of homes for sale. [...]

  Marina Jack has been chosen as the 2015 “National Marina of the Year” by “Marina Dock Age” magazine. The award is given each year to one marina with under 250 slips and one marina with more. Marina Jack won in the large marina category. Marina Jack has 316 wet and dry slips, a full-service fuel dock, ship’s store and [...]

Home prices continue to climb at double-digit levels in Southwest Florida, outrunning state and national gains.

• In November, single-family home prices jumped by 12.8 percent over the year in the Sarasota-Manatee region, data provider CoreLogic reported Tuesday.
• Home prices in Charlotte County increased by 10.5 percent in the same period.
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The number of hotel rooms in downtown Sarasota is set to increase nearly 200% over the next five years. Are there any reservations about the coming deluge? Hotel Boom - How many hotel projects could you possibly build in downtown Sarasota? Since 2013, that question has gradually evolved from a rhetorical exercise to a practical concern. [...]

Sarasota-Manatee Market poised to break all-time sales record in 2015 The Realtor® Association of Sarasota and Manatee reports the region is on pace to record the highest number of sales in its 100-year history. In 2014, a total of 19,389 properties were sold in Sarasota and Manatee Counties. With 19,020 sales recorded in the first eleven [...]

In addition to bringing back some form of seating to Five Points, city staff will experiment with other opportunities to increase activity at the popular downtown park. If you want a place to sit down in Selby Five Points Park, you’ll be in luck soon — although there’s still no set plan for what exactly the new seating will look like. [...]

The owner of the former Sarasota Quay property is taking initial steps toward development.

GreenPointe Communities, which paid $27 million for the 14-acre bayfront site last December, expects to submit a formal development plan to the city of Sarasota early 2016.

The project, called "Sarasota Bayside," will - for now - retain the scope of the development that was approved eight years ago, GreenPointe regional president Rick Harcrow said [...]

Sarasota Market News - The October real estate market in Sarasota and Manatee counties remained strong, with overall sales slightly lower than September and last October, but median sale prices up substantially over last year at this time. [...]

The Sunshine State welcomed an estimated 79.1 million visitors during the first nine months of 2015, the most of any such period in Florida's history.

The nine-month count was a 5.5 percent increase when compared with the same period in 2014.

The third quarter of this year saw an estimated 25.5 million visitors, an increase of 6.8 percent, [...]