My go-to Realtor in the Sarasota and Venice, FL, real estate markets, Dennis Boyle, toured a couple I referred to him around his area the last two days. They are looking for a permanent home not far from the Gulf of Mexico beaches. He wrote me the following yesterday:
“The market here hasn't been like this since just before the crash in the mid-2000s. Some builders have stopped all sales for the rest of February because they can't keep up. Other builders are allocating just a homesite or two a week. There are virtually no resales left to be had in the better lifestyle communities. We looked at communities that [with more than] 6,000 homes in one area of Venice called Wellen Park, where the new Atlanta Braves Spring Training park was recently built. There were no resales to look at. The…choices of lots were sparse. It is similar in Lakewood Ranch and other new community areas.”
As I wrote recently about the current state of real estate markets in the Southeast, quoting Yogi Berra, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” Dennis’ report is consistent with what I am hearing from all over the Region. The fork in the road for couples considering a home in the Sunbelt says, “This Way Now.”
