The median sales price for single-family homes in the Bradenton, Fla., area jumped 9.1% in October, compared to the previous year, to $325,000.
October's price matched the peak in July, when a $325,000 median was also recorded, the highest since the Great Recession of 2008.
The median price in the Bradenton area has hit $300,000 or more all of 2019, the product of a tight housing inventory.
The rise in prices is bad news for prospective first-time buyers looking to enter the market, but good news for sellers. The median price is the midpoint of all homes sold, exactly halfway between the most expensive and the least expensive houses sold.
"Low inventory brings an opportunity for sellers," Amy Worth, president of the Sarasota-Manatee Association of Realtors, said in a statement. "With the our typical 'snowbird' season approaching, now is an excellent time to list a home, especially while buyers are attracted to lower mortgage rates."
The inventory of single-family homes in the Bradenton area fell 7.5% in October. Manatee County and Bradenton, with a 3.4-month supply of houses, is considered a seller's market. A six-month supply of homes is considered a normal supply, favoring neither buyers nor sellers.
Miranda Oswald, a broker associate with Keller Williams on the Water, said that the upside of the market for potential buyers is the low interest rates now available, recalling that in the early 1980s interest rates were 16% or more.
"It's critical to get with a Realtor with their track shoes on, and who is ready to hit the door running," said Oswald, whose nickname is Miranda the Realtor.
The median time a house spent on the market — 42 days — was unchanged in the Bradenton area this October, compared to the previous October. The median time to the sale this October, was virtually unchanged, 88 days, compared to 87 days in 2017.
Manatee County condo prices increased by 0.9% to $192,999, while condo inventory fell by 0.7%.
In Sarasota County, single-family home prices increased by 5.6% to $285,000, while condo prices decreased by 5.7% to $220,352.
In October 2019, Manatee County and Sarasota County combined residential sales totaled 1,768 units, up by 12.8% from October of last year. The combined inventory across both markets decreased for the fourth consecutive month, according to monthly reports from Florida Realtors.
Statewide, the Florida median sales price for single-family existing homes was $263,000, up 3.6% in October from the previous year, according to data from Florida Realtors Research Department.
