March brought a turn in the Sarasota-Manatee housing market in several key categories: inventory supply fell from February in three of the four county-level segments; Sarasota County posted its first year-over-year price gains of 2026 in both single-family homes and condos and townhomes; and Manatee County’s condo and townhome market returned to year-over-year sales growth after declines in January and February. 

The broad picture was still one of a market slowing from its frenzy, but not collapsing. Sales rose in all four county-level categories in March, active listings fell in all four, and buyers kept taking longer to make decisions, according to the latest monthly report from the Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee (RASM).

“That tells us that the supply-and-demand formula is not just black and white,” David Crawford, RASM's 2026 president and broker-owner of Catalist Realty, says. “The buyer demand is real. They still want the lifestyle. They still want the benefits of living in Florida, but they're taking a lot of that emotional decision-making out of the equation and focusing more strategically, doing their due diligence and taking their time.”

In Sarasota County’s single-family market, March closed sales rose 8.9 percent year over year, to 890. The median sale price rose 3.3 percent, to $485,000, after year-over-year declines in January and February, making March the first month this year that Sarasota single-family homes posted an annual price gain. Active inventory fell 24 percent, to 3,351 homes, and months supply slipped to 4.8 months from 5 months in February, the first month-to-month decline of 2026. Sellers received 93.8 percent of the original list price, implying an estimated median original asking price of about $517,000. Homes took a median 49 days to go under contract, compared with 40 days in March 2025, a 22.5 percent increase year over year.

Crawford says that even with inventory down from a year ago, buyers no longer behave as though every appealing property must be grabbed instantly. “They know there’s some inventory out there still,” he says. “It’s just not creating that same sense of urgency that we had a couple of years ago.” Instead of racing into offers, he says, buyers are asking for the data, studying their choices and taking “a calculated view” of how to proceed.

Manatee County’s single-family market showed a different pattern. Closed sales rose 21.9 percent in March to 814, the strongest year-over-year sales gain of the year so far for that segment, after a 10.8 percent decline in January and a 10 percent gain in February. But prices softened. The median sale price fell 2.4 percent, to $494,205, down from a 0.1 percent increase in January and a 2.9 percent increase in February. Months supply of inventory dipped to 4.7 months from 4.8 months in February, the first decline of 2026 after supply rose from 4.6 months in January to 4.8 months in February. Sellers received 94.4 percent of the original list price, implying an estimated median original asking price of about $523,500.

The sharpest action remained in the condo and townhome market. Sarasota County recorded 455 condo and townhome sales in March, up 40.4 percent from a year earlier, following gains of 9.1 percent in January and 35.9 percent in February. The median sale price rose 3.8 percent, to $359,500, making March the first month this year that Sarasota condos and townhomes posted a year-over-year price gain after annual declines in the first two months. Months supply dropped again, to 8.1 months from 8.6 months in February and 8.9 in January, meaning the segment has tightened all year. Sellers received 92.3 percent of original list price, implying an estimated median original asking price of about $389,500. Properties spent a median 65 days on the market before going under contract, compared with 46 days in March 2025, a 41.3 percent increase year over year.

Crawford says the condo rebound wasn’t a surprise, given how much uncertainty clouded the market last year after the 2024 storms and lingering questions about association finances, reserves and assessments—issues that took center stage after the 2021 Surfside condo collapse prompted stricter scrutiny of older buildings, reserve funding and needed repairs. “Last season, there were a lot of unknowns,” he says. “By this season, I think a lot of the condos have found their new balance point.” Some buildings have now been repaired, he says, and in other cases the major costs have at least come into clearer view. “Once all the information is out there,” he says, "buyers can weigh not just the purchase price, but the overall cost of ownership." 

That clearer picture appears to have helped in Manatee County as well, though the story there was more uneven. Condo and townhome sales in Manatee rose 12 percent in March, to 336, after falling 1.7 percent in January and 18.7 percent in February, making March the first year-over-year sales increase of 2026 for that segment. But the median sale price fell 11.3 percent, to $300,000, the steepest price drop among the four major county-level categories in March. Months supply fell to 7.1 from 7.5 in February after rising from 7.2 in January, making March the first decline of the year. Sellers received 92.9 percent of original list price, implying an estimated median original asking price of about $322,900.

Crawford says buyers across the region are still active, but they’re showing much less willingness to deal with uncertainty, especially when it comes to major renovation work. “People want move-in ready units,” he says. “A lot of buyers don’t have a ton of appetite to come in and do a full reno.” Labor is expensive, materials cost more than they did a few years ago with tariffs in play, and many buyers, particularly those purchasing second homes, don’t want the stress of buying a property and then potentially "opening a Pandora’s box” with a major home project, he says.

That caution helps explain why prices are no longer moving in a single direction, even though inventory has been shrinking and sales have been climbing. Across the market, homes and units generally took longer to go under contract than they did a year earlier. For Sarasota single-family homes, the median time to contract rose to 49 days from 40 days; in Manatee County, it rose to 51 days from 46 days. For Sarasota condos and townhomes, the median time to contract rose to 65 days from 46 days; in Manatee County, it was 61 days—essentially flat from 62 days a year earlier.

Cash sales remained a major force, particularly in the condo market. In March, cash purchases made up 42 percent of Sarasota County single-family sales and 31.4 percent of Manatee County single-family sales. In the condo and townhome market, cash accounted for 65.5 percent of Sarasota County sales and 55.1 percent of sales in Manatee County.

New listings, meanwhile, fell in all four categories in March. They were down 18.6 percent for Sarasota single-family homes, 8.6 percent for Manatee single-family homes, 11.2 percent for Sarasota County condos and townhomes, and 13.5 percent for Manatee County condos and townhomes. That mismatch—more closings, fewer new listings—helped shrink inventory, but it didn’t restore the old seller's market psychology. Sellers who overshoot, Crawford says, risk sitting long enough to lose momentum, invite suspicion and eventually accept less.