For homeowners seeing their home’s value climb—and for home shoppers bumping up against a fast and furious, competitive market—it’s no surprise the 2021 housing market was a record-breaking year of sales in Sarasota and Manatee counties. 

December saw higher prices, lower inventory, and fewer sales than the same month in 2020. Median December sales prices surpassed the previous record set in November, according to new data from Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee (RASM). Homes also sold quickly in December, with a seven-day median period from listing date to contract date for single-family homes and condos in both counties. In December 2020, sales took more than twice that amount of time.

And in both counties, 100 percent of homes sold at or above the original list price.

In fact, December prices reached beyond previous records set earlier in the year. Prices during the last month of 2021 reached a median of $435,788 for single family homes in Sarasota and $460,000 in Manatee County. Median condo prices were $360,000 in Sarasota and $302,965 in Manatee in December.

Single family home inventory in December plummeted by roughly 60 percent in both counties. Condo supply plunged even more, at roughly 76 percent.

Compared to 2020, the number of sales in 2021 increased by 14.9 percent to 28,764 sales. For single-family homes, sales increased year-over-year by 13.4 percent to 10,798 in Sarasota County and by 12.3 percent to 8,607 sales in Manatee. Condo sales increased by 21.6 percent to 5,634 sales in Sarasota and by 16 percent to 3,725 sales in Manatee.

The yearly median sales price for single-family homes in 2021 was $395,945 in Sarasota and $420,000 in Manatee. For condos, the median price for 2021 was $315,000 in Sarasota and $260,000 in Manatee.

Cash was king in 2021, accounting for 57.3 percent of single-family home sales. Of condo sales in the two counties, 40.2 percent were closed with cash offers, a 34.9 percent increase compared to 2020.

So is there any relief in sight for home shoppers?

Looking to the new year, “we anticipate the price growth and velocity of sales to start leveling off, helping to increase inventory,” Tony Veldkamp, 2022 RASM president and senior advisor at SVN Commercial Advisory Group, said in a release.