With the impacts of Hurricane Ian disrupting the region's real estate market in September 2022, new data shows a huge hike in closed sales this September when compared to last year. The total number of closed sales across the North Port, Sarasota and Bradenton region was 1,770 in September, a 40.1 percent increase over last September. In comparison, the numbers from June, July and August showed a more stable market when compared to the same months in 2022.

Median prices, however, haven’t budged much; they declined slightly across all markets except for condos in Manatee County. For single-family homes, the median sale price in Sarasota decreased year-over-year by 0.7 percent to $494,000 and decreased by 2.6 percent to $503,495 in Manatee County. Sarasota County condos decreased by just 1.1 percent to a median of $395,750, while Manatee County condos increased by almost 4 percent to $350,000.

Inventory is maintaining its steady climb out of historically low levels seen in the past two years. For both property types combined, there were 5,886 active listings at the end of September, a 35.4 percent increase from the same time last year. In fact, Sarasota County reported the highest months' supply of inventory it has seen so far in 2023, with a 3.5-month supply for single-family homes and a 3.8-month supply for condos. Those numbers show year-over-year increases of almost 67 percent and 138 percent, respectively. In Manatee County, single-family home supply increased by 7.4 percent to a 2.9-month supply, while condo supply increased by 73.7 percent to a 3.3-month supply. A healthy real estate market typically shows four to six months' supply.

Despite more inventory, it's still a good time to sell.

"Even if prices shift, there's a lot of equity that's been gained," says Roger Pettingell of Coldwell Banker Realty, who has been in the local industry for 38 years. "I think what's protecting us from a buyer's market is that there's still a relative lack of inventory, which is keeping prices high. Many don't want to sell and lose out on lower interest rates they're locked into, either."

For those who are selling, Pettingell notes that some people who "panic-bought" during the Covid-19 pandemic are selling because they can't work from home after all, or "moving to Florida didn't work out for them," he says.

The median time to contract also keeps ticking up year over year. September numbers show 28 days, compared to 20 last year for single-family homes, and 42 days versus 17 days in the condo market.

Pettingell says international interest in the area has slowed, but for U.S. buyers, he's seeing an interest in a second home in Florida and living the outdoor lifestyle. "People still want to be warm and have lower taxes," he says. "One thing about this place is that it's a shiny new city with movement and improvements and vibrancy. There's the St. Regis, the Rosewood Residences and all these cool projects downtown on the horizon."

The Sarasota metro still shows slightly more cash sales than the national average, which is roughly 35 percent. September numbers show that cash sales accounted for 43 percent of single-family home sales in Sarasota County.