COVID-19 has led to an unprecedented number of homes for sale being withdrawn, canceled or temporarily taken off the market in Sarasota County, Fla., but the prices on the homes that are being sold have held steady, according to an analysis from a Sarasota real estate firm.
Robert S. Goldman, an agent with Michael Saunders & Co. in Venice, analyzed how the Sarasota County housing market looked from March 1-14 versus April 1-14 as a snapshot of the market before and during the COVID-19 era.
He found that the number of houses available for sale fell by 18.2% between the two periods, from 4,152 to 3,393. New listings fell 53.2% from 731 to 314, and the number of houses sold was down by 24.8% from 504 to 379.
Still, pricing held relatively steady between the two time periods. The average square-foot-sold price stayed at $236. The average sold price went up from $424,000 to $430,000, and the average for sale price dropped just 4.5%, from $741,000 to $708,000.
Some of the biggest changes came on the selling front. The number of homes temporarily withdrawn from the market skyrocketed from 19 homes in the first two weeks of March to 131 homes in the same period this month, and the number of homes conditionally withdrawn grew from 17 in early March to 61 in early April. Canceled sales went from six to nine.
Despite the changes, business is still being done, Goldman said. There were still 314 new listings, 390 closings and 282 signed contracts during the first two weeks of April.
What happens next is hard to predict, he said.
"As to the ultimate direction of home prices, it all depends upon how long it will take to tame the spread of the virus, roll out the economy in stages and get people back to work," Goldman said. "If there is a pullback, the strength of the housing market going into this crisis will be the driver that leads the economy out of it."
The upside is that before COVID-19, the housing market was stronger than ever -- unlike in the months leading up to the Great Recession, Goldman said. But he cautioned against putting too much stock in statistics at this time because everything is changing so quickly.
If someone absolutely needs to buy or sell a home during this time, there are always virtual and digital mechanisms in place to facilitate sales, he said.
"My advice — do not make decisions out of a sense of urgency. If you don't need to sell or buy your home now, don't. If you need to sell or buy your home now, do it," Goldman said. "In the middle of instability, there is always opportunity."
