Sales surge in December 2010 and prices remain stable The Sarasota real estate market saw a big surge in December sales, from 534 in November to 681 last month for a 27.8 percent increase. In addition, the median sales price for both single family homes and condos was up in December 2010, indicating a recovering local real estate market. The property sales breakdown in December 2010 was 500 single family home sales and 181 condos. The statistics for December 2010 were even better than December 2009. The 681 total sales reported last month topped the 648 sales in December 2009. The median sale price for single family homes stood at $165,000, a small drop from last year's figure of $170,000, but higher than the November 2010 figure of $160,100. For condos, the median price rose slightly to $160,000 from the previous month's $159,000, down from last December's median of $199,000. But condo prices have sunk below the $150,000 level several times in 2010, so the curren

ORLANDO, Fla. – Jan. 5, 2011 – The 2010 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers in Florida looks at the traits of the state’s current real estate clients, and it identifies the characteristics of today’s homebuyers. It describes the motivations of recent homebuyers and sellers in Florida so real estate professionals can track the changing demands of consumers. Characteristics of homebuyers • Forty-four percent of recent homebuyers were first-time owners compared to 50 percent nationwide. • The typical first-time buyer was 31 years old, while the typical repeat buyer was 54 years old; nationwide, first-time buyers were typically 30 and repeat buyers were 50 years old. • The 2009 median household income of Florida buyers was $63,300 – slightly lower than the median income of buyers nationwide, $72,200. • The median income was $53,500 among first-time buyers and $84,300 among repeat buyers. • Nineteen percent of recent homebuyers were single females, and 11 percent were sin