Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, Florida Realtors reports in its residential market data for September that more homes were sold in the first nine months of 2020 than in the first nine months of 2019. During the month of September, the market experienced a rise in sales, higher prices and fewer available listings than the same month last year. Year-to-date, closed sales have increased by 3.6 percent for the combined markets in both Sarasota and Manatee counties, according to the Realtor Association of Sarasota-Manatee. Single-family closed sales increased by 31.4 percent to 707 sales in Manatee and by 27.7 percent to 880 sales in Sarasota. The condo market increased by 73.5 percent to 314 sales in Manatee and 35.2 percent to 426 sales in Sarasota. Single-family median prices increased by 11.1 percent to $350,000 in Manatee County and by 6.9 percent to $318,500 in Sarasota County. Condo prices also increased year-over-year by 10.6 percent to $220,000 in Manatee and by 8.7 percent to $252,240 in Sarasota. For more information, click here.