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20 | New homes find warm weather and beautiful beaches just about anywhere in coastal Florida. But only in Southwest Florida will they find a spectacularly rich cultural experience augmented by an amazing number of new recreational, retail, sports and culinary options. In another item worth noting, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune recently provided an important insight into the region's current median home price by comparing it to what it was 14 years ago at the beginning of the new century. It then projects the price forward based on the region's traditional rate of property appreciation. The article's conclusion: Strip away the boom time highs of 2004-2006, and the deep recessionary lows of the last several years, and today's median sale price is almost exactly what it would have been had the region experienced its traditional level of between 3% and 4% annual appreciation all along. In November of 2014, for example, the median price for a single-family home in the Sarasota-Bradenton market was $215,000. By comparison, it was $138,000 in November of 2000. Had you purchased a home at the median price of $138,000 in 2000, and increased its value by 3% each year, its median price today would be $210,099. That means the region has already surpassed the 3% annual appreciation rate and appears headed toward 4%. With inventory levels trending upwards for the past five months, the market continues to strike a better balance between supply and demand; which should hold the line on anything other than normal levels of annual price appreciation. In advance of the region's busy spring buying season, we think it is important for both buyers and sellers to be aware of this fact. Today's median price is neither too low nor too high; but almost exactly in the range it should be in a normally appreciating property market. The current median price is neither too low nor too high, but almost exactly in the range it should be in a normally appreciating property market. Number of Homes 0 5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000 25,000 30,000 35,000 7-Feb 7-Aug 8-Feb 8-Aug 9-Feb 9-Aug 10-Feb 10-Aug 11-Feb 11-Aug 12-Feb 12-Aug 13-Feb 13-Aug 14-Feb 14-Aug 15-Feb For Sale Sold Pended 8-Year Inventory Year-Over-Year All Property Types-All Price Ranges Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte Counties Combined

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