Rising home prices aren’t new in this fast and furious real estate market, and low supply and high demand has kept prices climbing. In fact, November 2021 marks the highest recorded median prices in the two-county area, according to data compiled by the Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee (RASM).

Compared to November of last year, the single-family home median price in Manatee County increased by 28.5 percent to $450,411. In Sarasota County, it increased by 19.9 percent to $419,225. Condo prices saw similar hikes and increased by 28.6 percent to a median of $349,900 in Sarasota and by 26.4 percent to $300,000 in Manatee. Despite the price increases, all listings fetched 100 percent of their listing price.

Last month, the combined closed sales in both counties decreased year-over-year by 7.8 percent to 2,141 sales. For single-family homes, closed sales decreased year-over-year by 2 percent to 833 sales in Sarasota County and by 2.5 percent to 699 sales in Manatee. Condo sales decreased by 16.8 percent to 351 sales in Sarasota and decreased by 22.3 percent to 258 sales in Manatee. The decreases illustrate the shortage of home listing inventory.

“New listings that come to market are being sold in a matter of hours and there are far more buyers than there are homes to sell them,” says Alex Krumm, president of RASM and broker-owner of NextHome Excellence. 

Cash sales are also on the rise, accounting for just under 42 percent of single-family home sales, reflecting an increase of 35 percent year over year. For condo sales, almost 56 percent were closed in cash, reflecting a 13.4 percent increase year over year.

And it's all happening fast. For both counties, the median time from listing date to contract date for both single-family homes and condos is roughly a week. While the median time from listing date to sale date was 48 days. In November of 2020, those numbers were 17 days and 63 days, respectively. 

“I expect we'll continue to see higher prices next year," Krumm said.