The July real estate report from the Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee (RASM) shows a region moving in two directions at the same time.

Sarasota’s single-family home sales increased, while Manatee’s dipped, but Sarasota’s condominium market has slipped. Across the board, buyers now have more negotiating power as homes linger on the market for more than 100 days and sellers concede larger discounts.

"Snowbirds got spooked last year from hurricanes. Many still intend to purchase, but they’re looking longer than usual," says Stephanie Coffey, a local Keller Williams realtor. "Contract times and negotiations are all taking longer. People are moving cautiously, whether because of interest rates, tariffs, or just uncertainty. That uncertainty makes people wait more."

In July, Sarasota County single-family home sales rose 12.6 percent year-over-year, to 723 closings, with the median price steady at $470,000. Manatee County moved the other way: sales fell 9 percent, to 624, and the median price slid 1.8 percent, to $489,900.

For the first time in years, Sarasota’s single-family median is now below Manatee’s. “I think for a long time Manatee was undervalued comparatively, but after the pandemic boom, prices rose to be more aligned along both counties,” Coffey. “It’s nice to see them catching up.”

Much of the difference lies in competition between resale homes and new construction. Builders in Lakewood Ranch, for example, much of which is in Manatee County, are luring buyers with steep incentives. “One builder was offering a 2.99 percent interest rate and $20,000 in incentives during a recent red tag event,” Coffey says. “Resale can’t compete unless sellers are really willing to come down.” She adds that many builders arrange their own financing programs and keep sales outside the multiple listing service (MLS)—databases that are created by real estate professionals to help clients buy and sell property—making the impact of new construction harder to track.

But sellers across both counties are conceding more. In July, Sarasota single-family homes closed at 91 percent of the original list price; Manatee’s held slightly stronger at 93.7 percent. Condos were weaker still. Sarasota sellers received just 88.3 percent of the original list price, compared with 91 percent in Manatee. “We tell sellers that buyers have more negotiating power now, which is just a fact,” Coffey says. “The days of testing a high price and seeing what happens are over.”

Homes are also taking longer to sell than a year ago in the single-family market, suggesting that buyers are slower to commit. In Sarasota, the median time to sale rose to 105 days in July from 94 days a year earlier, while in Manatee it increased to 102 days from 100 days. Condos, by contrast, are closing a bit faster despite steep price declines, which points to buyers stepping in at lower price levels. Sarasota’s median condo time to sale fell to 113 days from 120, and Manatee’s dropped to 111 from 121.

Coffey calls it a mix of overpriced listings and owners unwilling to let go of pandemic-era expectations. “People still have 2021 and 2022 feelings, but seeing what you can get is not a strategy right now,” she says. "There are still listings that get multiple offers in the first week, but you have to look hyper-locally. It can still be a seller’s market in some places, but you need to know the particular property. Every home tells a story, and so does the data. If the home is priced appropriately, buyers should stop and offer that price instead of trying to beat it down."

The condo market shows the starkest divide. Sarasota condo and townhouse sales fell 16.1 percent year-over-year to 239, and the median price tumbled nearly 18 percent to $300,000. Manatee saw a softer decline: sales dropped 10.7 percent to 201, but the median dipped only 2.7 percent to $320,000. “There are just so many options,” Coffey says. “After the storms, many people came off the coast and new construction condos are coming online. Older condos near the water still carry uncertainty.”

Condo weakness across the region reflects a convergence of pressures. After a brutal hurricane season last year, many buyers are cautious about aging waterfront buildings that face steep insurance premiums and increased assessments. New construction has expanded supply, while association fees and property taxes have climbed sharply. Seasonal residents, once the core of the condo market, are showing more hesitation. Those forces have dragged Sarasota’s condo prices down nearly 18 percent in a year.

Condo inventory in both counties has expanded over the past year, though Sarasota’s oversupply is more acute. Sarasota ended July with 2,000 active condo and townhouse listings, up 12.5 percent from a year earlier, equal to a 7.5-month supply of inventory. Manatee’s inventory climbed even faster, rising 20.3 percent to 1,517 listings, or a seven-month supply. Both figures mark buyer-leaning conditions compared with the more balanced four- to six-month range, helping explain why sellers have had to concede more on price.

Much of the condo exodus has been due to regulatory changes in the wake of the Surfside collapse. In response, Florida passed laws in 2022 requiring regular structural inspections and fully funded reserves, leading to higher costs for condo owners. This summer, lawmakers approved House Bill 913, which preserved safety requirements but gave associations more flexibility, allowing them to use loans or lines of credit for reserves, pause contributions to prioritize repairs, and extend deadlines for structural studies. Smaller buildings may also be exempt from some inspection rules. The measure was designed to keep buildings safe while easing the financial burden that has weighed heavily on older condos. 

The local shifts reflect a wider Florida trend. According to Bankrate’s 2025 Housing Heat Index, reported by Business Insider, Florida has swung from one of the hottest real estate markets in the nation to one of the coolest. The North Port–Sarasota–Bradenton metro, once a national leader in price growth, now ranks near the bottom as rising insurance premiums and property taxes weigh on demand.

Cash remains a defining feature of the market. In Sarasota, 37.8 percent of single-family home sales and 60.7 percent of condo sales closed in cash. Manatee posted lower but still significant levels, with 29.5 percent of single-family and 46.8 percent of condo sales paid outright. “Cash [sales] have always been high here and I think that will always hold,” Coffey says. “In the luxury market, we see more homes pending in days—and a lot of those buyers are self-insuring.” 

Inventory, which had swelled earlier in 2025, is now trending downward. Sarasota ended July with 3,574 single-family listings, up 16.5 percent year-over-year but fewer than in May. Manatee’s rose 18.9 percent to 2,959. Both totals equate to more balanced supplies—5.6 months of inventory in Sarasota and 4.8 in Manatee.

Coffey says she's cautiously optimistic heading into fall. “Our indicator right now is inquiries—people are preparing to make purchases,” she says. “If we don’t get hit with another harsh storm season, I’m optimistic it’ll be great for both buyers and sellers.”