Just nine days after going on the market, a four-bedroom, five-bath Gulf-front home at 6899 Gulf of Mexico Drive on north Longboat Key went under contract for $6.8 million, making it the highest-priced residential sale to date in 2018 in Sarasota and Manatee counties. The home, designed by architect Robert Rokop and built in 2010 by Whitehead Construction, has nearly 5,900 square feet of living space in a coastal contemporary style.

Tina Rudek of Rose Bay International was the listing agent, and Janet Walter of Michael Saunders & Company was the selling agent. In a press release, Walter said the buyers have been friends of hers since college. “As soon as we started discussing their move from San Diego to Sarasota,” Walters said, “I began scouring the inventory to find them just the right property. When I learned this one was coming to market, I immediate scheduled a preview and Facetimed with them for over an hour at the property. They fell in love immediately.”

According to Michael Saunders & Company, this is the fourth largest sale of the 17 homes that have sold for more than $5 million on Longboat Key since 2003. Currently, 12 properties are listed for more than $5 million in the MLS—four of them over $10 million.