Sarasota condo sales pick up

SARASOTA — Condo sales in Sarasota are up by 8% through the first seven months of 2011, while home sales are essentially unchanged, according to the latest report from Michael Saunders & Co.'s Michael Moulton.

Within the condo market, units priced between $250,000 and $500,000 have seen the strongest growth, with 372 units sold through July 2011, up from 217 last year, a 71% increase. In all, 1,759 condos have been sold so far this year, up from 1,631 units.

Home sales declined by half a percentage point, according to Moulton's estimates, down from 2,989 units sold in the first seven months of 2010 to 2,972 this year.

Moulton says distressed sales continue to deflate Sarasota's real estate market. Of the combined 4,748 units sold so far, approximately 2,000 have been in some state of foreclosure, representing 42% of all housing sales.