For months, the Sarasota-Manatee real estate market seemed to be waiting for someone to make the first move. In June, buyers finally did. 

Closed and pending sales rose year over year for single-family homes and condos and townhomes in both Sarasota and Manatee counties. Meanwhile, active inventory fell by double digits in each of the four segments, leaving buyers with fewer choices—all this according to the latest data published by the Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee (RASM).

“We definitely have been getting more calls,” says Katie Cobb, a real estate adviser with Douglas Elliman Real Estate. The sharpest increase came in Manatee County, where 890 single-family homes sold in June, up 26.2 percent from a year earlier. New pending sales rose 22.8 percent to 716, suggesting the increase in closings may continue in the coming months.

Cobb says the buyers include local residents who had been waiting for an opportunity as well as newcomers relocating from New York, Ohio, South Carolina and other northern states. “Out-of-state buyers are continuing to relocate,” she says.

Joe Harris, a global real estate adviser with Premier Sotheby’s International Realty, says Manatee’s new-home market may help explain its recent strength.

“Buyers are increasingly seeking newer homes that require minimal maintenance and adhere to the latest building codes,” Harris says. Manatee’s remaining developable land allows builders to continue adding those homes, he says, giving buyers more new-construction options.

Although the June figures don’t separate newly built homes from resales, they also show that Sarasota still had slightly more active single-family listings overall—2,870 compared with 2,706 in Manatee. Manatee, however, brought more new listings to market during the month, with 831 compared with Sarasota’s 753, and recorded 85 more closed sales.

Cobb says recent buyers have included more people making full-time moves rather than shopping exclusively for second or even third homes. Families hoping to settle before school begins also help drive summer activity. “People want to be in before school starts,” she says. “They want to be in before fall and before the holidays.”

Manatee’s median single-family sale price rose 11.4 percent year over year to $490,000. In Sarasota County, it increased 8.2 percent, to $492,450, leaving just $2,450 between the two county medians.

That narrow gap doesn’t necessarily mean the counties have become equally expensive. A monthly median reflects the particular mix of properties sold. Still, the convergence shows how higher-priced transactions and continued development have pushed Manatee’s broader market upward.

The divide between houses and condos was more pronounced.

Sarasota County recorded 364 condo and townhome sales, a 25.5 percent increase from June 2025, while the median sale price declined 7.5 percent to $343,750. In Manatee, sales rose 11.2 percent to 259 and the median slipped 0.9 percent to $310,000.

“You have to look at the two markets. They’re completely different,” Cobb says. “Someone who’s buying a condo in Sarasota has a completely different lifestyle than someone who’s buying a single-family home in Manatee County.”

Nationally reported Florida condo association fees, insurance expenses and the possibility of special assessments continue to shape buyers’ calculations. Condo shoppers also had more choices than buyers seeking single-family homes. Sarasota condos had 6.3 months of supply in June and Manatee had 5.7 months. Both single-family markets stood at 4.1 months.

That difference helps explain how condo sales can accelerate while median prices decline: More buyers may be willing to act once sellers adjust their expectations. Cobb attributes the Sarasota condo movement to “a little bit of both”—sellers becoming more realistic and buyers entering after prices come down.

Sarasota condo sellers nevertheless received a median 92 percent of their original asking price, up from 89.7 percent a year earlier. That suggests at least some sellers may be setting more attainable prices from the beginning rather than making larger concessions later.

Inventory tightened throughout both counties. Sarasota’s supply of single-family homes fell most dramatically, dropping 27.4 percent from 3,955 active listings in June 2025 to 2,870 this June. That reduced the supply from 6.3 months to 4.1 months, below the five to six months generally associated with a balanced market, where neither buyers nor sellers have a clear advantage. New listings also declined 6.5 percent.

Part of that decrease may be seasonal. Cobb says some owners remove homes from the market during traditionally slower summer, with plans to try again later, though she generally advises against it unless a property has been sitting for an extended period. "We suggest not doing that, unless your home’s been sitting on the market for 300 days and you’d like to take a break for 60 days," she says.

Buyers haven’t moved at the same speed everywhere. Manatee condo inventory fell 18.2 percent and sales increased, yet the median time to contract lengthened from 68 to 84 days. The median time from listing to closing rose from 111 to 123 days.

That’s a reminder that shrinking inventory alone doesn’t guarantee a quicker sale, particularly in a segment where buyers may be examining association finances and other costs beyond the purchase price. Cobb is most encouraged by the increases in closed and pending sales after a sluggish start to 2026.

“When you have a good amount of pending listings, that’s indicative of where the market is headed in the coming months,” she says. “I’m really pleased to see that.”

Still, June represents one month, and large percentage gains within luxury price tiers can be magnified by relatively small numbers of transactions. The more consequential signal may be the breadth of the movement: More homes sold in both counties and both property categories, more contracts were signed and fewer properties were available than one year earlier.