“We are going to see the collapse of the condo market, both in Manatee and Sarasota counties (Florida),”

said Hank Fishkind.  Hank is a Florida economist and his opinion is quite sought after.  Once a year he speaks to our local Chamber of Commerce, but this meeting was a Lakewood Ranch last Friday to a gathering of about 300 people.

Fishkind expects very slow growth in 2008.  Perhaps 1 to 2 percent at best. Yet, he predicted that our area has reached the bottom in terms of depreciating home prices and surplus inventory.  He expects the climb upward to begin soon.

Manatee and Sarasota counties are in favorable positions because of two nearby airports.  Namely, Tampa International and Sarasota - Bradenton International.  Also, the I-75 corridor runs down through both counties. And, then there’s the sunshine and the gulf beaches.

Manatee County was actually the second best Metro-market for all of Florida in December, as far as number of home sales.  We are seeing the surplus of inventory dropping and home prices stabilizing.  It does appear to be a great buying opportunity.

Want to know more about our Bradenton Florida real estate market?  Please pick up the phone and give me a call.

(Copyright © 2008 By Dan Forbes, All Rights Reserved.)

Our Manatee County, Florida real estate market continues to show slow improvement.  That is welcomed news! 

However we are not out of the woods yet.  Economist Hank Fishkind predicts the number of homes for sale in Manatee County won’t return to normal until the middle of 2009, when the market is expected to finally hit bottom.

The Total Market Overview Reports below show by price range:

* Current number of active listings
* Number of expired listings for the month
* Total Number of Pending Listings
* Number of closed sales for the month
* Absorption Rate
* Average List Price and Average Sale Price
* Average Days on Market
* Market Trend: Improving or Not
* Compared to 6 months ago
* Compared to 1 year ago

Dec 2007 Residential

Dec 2007 Condo

Please contact me, Dan Forbes, or call 941-713-5760 if you have any questions about our Bradenton Florida Real Estate market. Please visit BradentonFloridaRealEstate.com; The-Short-Sale-Expert.com

That’s the headline of a National Association of Realtor’s press release about the state of the housing market.

“Existing-home sales are projected to trend up in 2008, with pending home sales showing a slight near-term rise, according to the latest forecast by the National Association of Realtors® (NAR). ”

The release further said, “Existing-home sales are likely to total 5.67 million this year, the fifth highest on record, rising to 5.70 million in 2008, in contrast with 6.48 million in 2006. Existing-home prices should be down 1.9 percent to a median of $217,600 for all of 2007, and then rise 0.3 percent to $218,300 in 2008.” 

About mortgage rates it said, “The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is estimated to rise slowly to the 6.4 percent range by the end of 2008, with additional cuts in the Fed funds rate lowering short-term interest rates.”

Please contactme, Dan Forbes, or call if you have questions about our Bradenton, Florida real estate market at 941-746-0505; toll free 877-646-8326.  Visit my web site BradentonFloridaRealEstate.com 

From multiple sources, we are seeing good news. Finally!!

Today’s Bradenton Herald features a front page story about the Bradenton, Florida housing market in Manatee County.  The story is entitled…

“IS RELIEF IN SIGHT? At last, a positive sign: Manatee housing market inventory inches down.”

I was interviewed for this article and am quoted quite often in it. If you missed seeing it in the paper you may read it here.  Click to read

Please give me, Dan Forbes, a call with questions about our Bradenton, Florida real estate market at 941-746-0505; toll free 877-646-8326.  Visit BradentonFloridaRealEstate.Com  and my blog The Real Estate ZOO.

Our local MLS is flooded with Pre-foreclosure listings, short sales, and foreclosed properties.  This is driving our home driving prices down even further on a DAY BY DAY basis. Our market slide continues its downhill direction.

Denial and False Hopes
What’s curious is that most sellers are in denial.  Many are holding out false hopes that things are going to get better next month or next year. Hey folks, please wake up, things are going to get a lot worse before ever getting better.  We may be looking at 2010 before recovery comes to the Bradenton - Sarasota market.

We study this market every day and there are no good numbers to report!  Believe me, when we start to see a turn around, you will be the first to know.  Right now it’s time to move from denial into reality.

We now have over a 3 year of supply of homes on the market overall.  In some price ranges we have a 9 year supply of homes on the market!  Good grief! 

The Total Market Overview Reports below show by price range:

• Current number of active listings
• Number of expired listings for the month
• Total Number of Pending Listings
• Number of closed sales for the month
• Absorption Rate
• Average List Price and Average Sale Price
• Average Days on Market
• Market Trend: Improving or Not
• Compared to 6 months ago
• Compared to 1 year ago

Residential TMO 

Condo TMO

Copyright © 2007 By Dan Forbes, All Rights Reserved.)

Please contact me, Dan Forbes, a call if you have questions about or our Bradenton, Florida real estate market at 941-746-0505; toll free 877-646-8326.  Visit my web site BradentonFloridaRealEstate.com