Sarasota condo sales increase

SARASOTA — Despite a slight slowdown in home sales, an active condominium market increased the total number of single-family properties sold in Sarasota over the first six months of the year, according to Michael Moulton, a realtor with Michael Saunders & Co.

Home sales decreased 2% in the first six months of 2011 relative to the first half of last year, with 2,593 units sold. But condo sales increased by 15%, with 1,562 units sold in the first half of the year, causing a net 4% gain in all properties sold.

Those property-wide trends are even more apparent among units sold for less than $500,000. A total of 2,271 such homes were sold in the first half of 2011, compared to 2,344 last year, a 3% drop.

But 1,382 condos sold for less than $500,000 in the year's first half, up 22% from last year's total of 1,129 units, Moulton said.

Moulton's monthly report for June also updated the area's distressed sales totals. To date, 44% of all properties sold in Sarasota have been distressed sales, Moulton says. The vast majority of those were priced below $500,000; just 62 of 1,830 distressed sales went for more.