After two months of steep drops, home sales leveled off in the Sarasota-Manatee, Fla., region in June.
Buyers closed on 1,436 existing single-family homes in the two-county area, down just 0.6% from 2019, according to data released on Wednesday by Florida Realtors.
That marked a significant improvement from May, when sales plunged 40% over the year, and from April, which showed a 21% decline, as the coronavirus pummeled the regional economy.
Local home sales remain 8.7% behind last year's pace, and the supply of existing homes for sale has reached all-time lows.
Condo sales also remained off in the two-county region. The 584 units closed marked a 0.7% decline over the year, with year-to-date deals now off 3.5% from 2019.
But combined closed sales increased by 44.4% from May, which real estate agents say signals that buying is catching up to pre-pandemic conditions.
"What is becoming apparent to us now is that our stalled seasonal buying market of the winter has shifted into summer," David Clapp, president of the Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee, said in a report. "We continue to see a high demand from buyers and week-over-week sales continue to outpace this year's pre-COVID-19 numbers, while home values stay on the rise."
Home prices in the two counties gained 4% over the year to a median $315,000. Through June, home prices have gained 5.1%.
Condos traded for $239,995, up 8.6%, and they have climbed 6.3% for the year.
Home sales varied by county, with Manatee posting a 7.2% increase but Sarasota showing a 6.5% decline.
Pending sales — properties that went under contract — increased by 35.4% in June in Sarasota-Manatee. Broken down, pending sales of single-family homes rose by 34.6% in Manatee and by 32.9% in Sarasota. Among condos, contracted deals increased 30.5% in Sarasota and a 53.7% in Manatee
The inventory of single-family homes has dried up in the region, now with just a 2.7-months supply in Sarasota and 2.6-months in Manatee, a level the Realtor Association called a historic low.
"Low inventory has been a nationwide challenge for a few years, but this is the first time we've seen it at this level in our own backyard, especially for single-family homes," Clapp said. "As the number of sales exceeds new listings, inventory will stay low and prices will stay up."
Statewide, buyers closed on 27,650 single-family homes last month, 1.3% ahead of 2019. Condo sales faltered by nearly 11% to 8,996, Florida Realtors reported.
Homes sold for a median $282,000 throughout Florida in June, up 4.4% over the year, while condos traded for 7.7% more, at $210,000.
Pending sales statewide trended up for the second straight month, said Brad O'Connor, chief economist at the trade group.
"Several factors are playing into this renewed demand for housing, but by far, the most important factors are record-low mortgage interest rates and the release of all the pent-up demand from our derailed spring buying season," he said. "We can't expect this supercharged level of sales growth to last forever; at some point, we will burn through this pent-up demand.
"But interest rates are not expected to rise any time soon and they still have some room to go lower, so we have every reason to be optimistic about sales over the coming months, barring additional negative shocks to the economy," O'Connor said.
Nationwide, Americans stepped up their home purchases in June by a robust 20.7% after the pandemic had caused sales to crater in the prior three months. But the housing market could struggle to rebound further in the face of the resurgent viral outbreak and a shrinking supply of homes for sale.
Sales of existing homes rose last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.72 million, the National Association of Realtors said. Despite the gain, purchases are still down 11.3% from a year ago, when homes had sold at an annual pace of 5.32 million. And Lawerence Yun, the Realtors' chief economist, noted that sales remain roughly 20% below their pre-pandemic levels.
At the same time, housing has managed to avoid a deeper slump from the severe recession caused by the coronavirus. Demand has remained strong among buyers who have managed to weather the downturn, while
"Buyers are out in force, but new listings remain the key to housing's recovery," said Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com. "More sellers are needed before we'll see year over year gains in home sales."
The number of property listings has plunged 18.2% from a year ago to 1.57 million. That is the 13th straight month of shrinking supply on an annual basis. The shortage of homes makes it unlikely that the housing industry can significantly boost the overall economy.
