Changes in the real estate market on Manasota Key have been quite remarkable. The nineties began with a very slow buyer’s market with the highest price paid for a Gulf front home in 1990 was $1,130,000. The average number of homes sold that year in the Sarasota County portion of the Key was less than ten. The average length of time for a property to be on the market was greater than two years. Few if any sales were made to investors during that period. Interest rates were high and the stock market was recovering. Building had come to a virtual standstill because the State moved the Coastal Construction Line further back from the Gulf. Every one was confused about where and what they could build on vacant property. Older homes seem to offer the best alternative to keep from building close to the road but the fifty percent rule added another stumbling block. Gradually the County and the State began to give in to the demands of people wanting to build and started granting variances. Today there are three new homes under construction on Manasota Key. Vacant lots are selling for a premium on both the Gulf side and Lemon Bay ranging in price from 1.5 million for bay lots to 8 plus million for Gulf front lots. At these prices buyers can’t afford to build 2,000 square foot beach cottages. Consequently the newer homes are getting much larger and the quaint beach front homes built during the fifties and sixties are in danger of becoming extinct.

The millennium brought big changes to the real estate market; interest rates were at the lowest they have been in over forty years. The stock market had lost some of its glitter for investors and the baby boomers are starting to retire, all of these together have produced one of the biggest sellers markets in the history of Manasota Key. Inventory was at an all time low and the old adage of “supply and demand” was driving prices up, up, up. Nowhere was that more evident than here on Manasota Key. To date the highest price paid for vacant land is $7.25 million for 12+ acres and the highest price paid for a home is $5,500,000. In February, 2006 the highest price of a home listed is $7,500,000. There are no waterfront homes listed for less than a million dollars. With prices soaring out of control everyone was anxious to get in on the “get rich quick” program. Property was being dumped on the market at ridiculous prices in late 2005 and early 2006. Remember the old adage I spoke of “supply and demand”, well the bubble finally reached a breaking point. Buyers now have more to choose from and some seller’s are more anxious to move their property than others and interest rates are beginning to creep up creating the perfect change over to a Buyer,s market. The cycle begins again. I predict that the market will level out and will return to normal (whatever normal is). I don’t believe we will see a turn down in prices on waterfront properties but the rise in prices will not be driven by emotion. Waterfront property will always be in high demand and there will always be Buyers who have dreamed of owning a home on the beach in Florida.

What will the next fifty years bring to our beautiful Key? This is a question only time will answer. The residents of today must take an active role in steering the county and state government into making wise choices regarding conservation and building codes if we want to protect this beautiful paradise.