Sarasota distressed sales persist

SARASOTA — Distressed sales keep pushing home prices down in the continually embattled Sarasota real estate market.

So far this year nearly 1,550 of 3,558 residential properties sold in Sarasota were distressed sales, according to Michael Saunders & Co.'s Michael Moulton. That represents 52% of the market.

“Sellers continue to be faced with the challenge of having to be competitive with the heavy inventory of distressed sales listings, and the fear of a glut of product entering the market as the supply of foreclosure units works its way through the system,” Moulton says in his latest report.

Moulton says 22% of the 4,500 active listings in the Sarasota real estate market today are distressed sales.

Despite these continued issues, sales activity does appear to be ticking upward, albeit slightly: Almost 800 — 781 — residential properties were sold in May, compared to 746 a year ago.