Pair of local residential sales top $10M

Two “largest since” residential real estate sales closed last week in the Sarasota-Bradenton area, the latest sign of an upscale housing market revival.

One transaction was of a Gulf-front estate on Gulf of Mexico Drive on Longboat Key that sold for $6.8 million. That was the highest-priced residential sale on Longboat Key in more than two years, according to a release from Michael Saunders & Co. Agents with the firm's Addy-Wittig Team, in the Longboat Key South office, and Jonathan Abrams of the firm's Siesta Key office, listed the property. Coldwell Banker agent Lynne Koy represented the buyer.

The newly built 6,959-square-foot home has four bedrooms and five-and-a-half bathrooms on more than an acre of Gulf-front land. The home has a 12-person Jacuzzi that cascades into a 40-foot Gulf-front pool. There's also a fire pit, a summer kitchen, a covered terrace and a three-stop elevator. The property was originally listed for $7 million in April.

Another local milestone transaction closed last week at Ritz-Carlton Beach Residences on Lido Key, where a three-bedroom condo sold for $3.35 million. That was the building's highest-priced sale since February 2012, according to another release from Michael Saunders & Co. Richard Perlman, with the firm's Longboat Key South office listed the property, the release states. Denise and Nicole Mei of the firm's Mei Team, with the firm's Main Street Office, sold it.

The Ritz-Carlton Beach Residences property, originally listed for $3.75 million, is in a seventh-floor end unit in the Gulf-front tower. It has a wraparound terrace that faces east and south, where it offers both sunrise and skyline views over downtown Sarasota and the bay, in addition to sunset views over the Gulf of Mexico.