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  The Neighborhood Report – Stoneybrook in Palmer Ranch

  John Butzko 3:40 pm on November 24, 2009 | Comments:1 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: homebuyers (24), inventory (25), Market News, real estate market (100)

  

  The villas in Stoneybrook offer a unique lifestyle surrounded by lush landscaping.

  Palmer Ranch is brimming with beautiful neighborhoods and lifestyle options offering the best in country club living and resort-style amenities. Designed around a gorgeous 18-hole golf course, Stoneybrook Golf & Country Club is a gated community of over 850 single-family homes, attached villas and maintenance-free condominiums enveloped by well-manicured landscaping and grounds.

  As specialists in Palmer Ranch properties, the agents of our Palmer Ranch office provide the most in-depth market experience in the area. Palmer Ranch office manager Darla Furst keeps a close watch on the market throughout Sarasota, where she notices strong activity in the Stoneybrook community, which currently has 56 active listings. Of these available properties, 10 are single-family homes and the rest are balanced between condominiums and villas. (More …)

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  The Neighborhood Report - Longboat Key Communities

  John Butzko 4:11 pm on September 8, 2009 | Comments:1 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: condominiums (15), longboat key (17), Market News, real estate market (100), waterfront (12)

  

  A View of the Gulf from 6171 Gulf of Mexico Drive - Sleepy Lagoon

  Sales of desirable, well-priced properties are happening on Longboat Key, according to Georgina Clamage, branch manager of Michael Saunders & Company’s Longboat Key South office. Longboat Key is Sarasota’s only barrier island offering a country club lifestyle with a beautiful beach and marina, fabulous restaurants and a thriving arts community.

  Successes in Sales

  Sleepy Lagoon

  On the north end of the key, one of the more popular communities is Sleepy Lagoon. Located in a laidback part of the key with properties on both the Gulf of Mexico and Sarasota Bay, Sleepy Lagoon has become a major point of interest. In fact, 7 of the 12 sales there this year have been in the last 90 days. Listing agents Emmy Lou Gilbert, Michael Yawitz and Saint Cacchiotti of the Longboat Key South office worked with their sellers to keep them up-to-the-minute on the local market conditions, which resulted in successful sales for each in July. Terri Derr and Ken Torrington, also of the Longboat Key South office, sold 6429 Gulfside Road, a Gulf-front home that had been on the market since early 2007 and finally reached a price that the buyers couldn’t resist. (More …)

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  The Neighborhood Report - Siesta Key Communities

  John Butzko 2:43 pm on August 18, 2009 | Comments:0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Market News, Michael Saunders (30), pending sales (14), real estate market (100), Siesta Key (13)

  

  Summer Cove on Siesta Key

  The community of Sarasota Beach stretches from the Gulf of Mexico to the Grand Canal and includes the world renowned Siesta Key Village. Its meandering boating canals and proximity to Siesta’s beautiful beaches, world-class shopping and fine restaurants have made the community’s single-family homes, multi-family properties and carefree condominiums highly sought after for those in search of a convenient island lifestyle. Current list prices throughout Sarasota Beach range from $215,000 to $3.9 million. Presently, there are 34 active homes, 13 under contract (pending) and seven have sold in the past three months. Michael Saunders & Company was involved in four of the seven closings, which demonstrates our influence in the Siesta Key market. The hottest part of this market is found in properties priced under $500,000. At the time of this report, only six homes in Sarasota Beach are priced under $500,000, which means there is just a little over three months of inventory. (More …)

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  The Neighborhood Report - St. Armands Circle

  John Butzko 2:02 pm on July 14, 2009 | Comments:0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: bird key (7), inventory (25), longboat key (17), Market News, Michael Saunders (30), real estate market (100), Sarasota (46)

  

  St. Armands Office

  As Sarasota’s hub of fine dining and world-class shopping, St. Armands Circle attracts local visitors and international travelers to its casually elegant island location. Set just a stroll from the marketplaces on the circle, our St. Armands site is the company’s flagship office and proudly specializes in serving homebuyers and sellers throughout Lido Key, St. Armands Key, Longboat Key, Bird Key and throughout the Sarasota area.

  How is the Market on St. Armands?

  Barbara Roberts, the longtime managing broker of the St. Armands office, is pleased to report a very active market—thanks to an abundance of interested folks stopping by while enjoying a day at the Circle. Barbara finds that most of those who inquire about our services and available homes are long-range buyers, not necessarily looking to purchase a home immediately. Their increased curiosity in the market is a good sign for future transactions. This past June has been a great success, as the office booked more than $40 million in open sales. In fact, the last time St. Armands has seen such a high figure was in 2005. (More …)

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  The Neighborhood Report - Lakewood Ranch

  John Butzko 10:28 am on July 2, 2009 | Comments:1 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: housing recovery (8), inventory (25), lakewood ranch (9), Market News, multiple offers, real estate market (100), Sarasota (46)

  

  Lakewood Ranch

  Similar to the regional highs and lows of the national housing market, our local neighborhoods and communities experience differing results relating to home sales and inventories. To help you understand the ongoing dynamics that shape Florida’s Gulf Coast real estate, we shine a spotlight on each of our offices to present an intimate peek inside the conditions and trends observed by our team of branch managers.

  How’s The Market?

  Gloria Weed, branch manager of our Lakewood Ranch office, is pleased to report strong activity throughout the communities of Lakewood Ranch. Here, our agents are consistently showing and writing contracts for the properties priced correctly—further reinforcing the importance of pricing in accordance to the market’s demand. In fact, our Lakewood Ranch agents are receiving multiple offers on some of the more aggressively priced properties, a definite sign of a vibrant market. (More …)

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  Mortgage Originations Are Strong

  Michael Saunders & Company 2:12 pm on June 25, 2009 | Comments:0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: lending (2), Market News, Mortgage (16), refinance (4), wells fargo (4)

  * News from our partner Wells Fargo

  Market in Review: The Wells Fargo View
  

  During the first quarter of 2009, the mortgage industry experienced strong origination activity due to a number of factors including the ongoing low interest rate environment, a drop in the national median home price, an abundance of homes on the market and new government programs that are available to encourage homeownership, as well as refinances.

  According to Inside Mortgage Finance, mortgage originations increased by 71%.  In total, an estimated $445 billion of single-family mortgage loans were made.

  Of the originations in first quarter, the May 29 issue of Inside Mortgage Finance showed that 78% of originations were for refinances and 22% were for purchase money mortgages.

  Credit and financing options continue to be available to qualified borrowers. Consumers should be aware that when obtaining a loan, it’s likely they will be asked to verify their income, demonstrate a solid credit history, and bring a down payment to the table.

  • According to results released by the National Association of REALTORS® on May 12, the national median home price of single family homes sold in the first quarter was $169,000, a 6.2% decline from fourth quarter 2008.

  • In addition, the Center for Housing Policy recently reported that between 2007 and 2008, the income needed to purchase a median-priced home dropped in 194 of 199 metropolitan areas.

  These factors appear to demonstrate that the tide may be turning and home inventories are stabilizing in some areas of the country.

  Read Full Article Here

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  Buyers Returning to the UK Market

  Michael Saunders & Company 10:44 am on June 1, 2009 | Comments:0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: International, Market News, UK

  You’ve seen the latest statistics and heard the buzz.  The worst may well be over for the beleaguered U.S. housing market, commencing in markets like Sarasota-Bradenton.  We were among the first markets to feel the sting of the nationwide real estate correction; and now appear to be among the first to enjoy the thaw.  That’s certainly good news for us; but its even better news for our good friends and allies in Europe and the UK, whose housing and general economic recovery is thought to be tightly tied to recovery in the U.S.

  Our good friend and colleague, Nick Churton, managing principal of Mayfair International Realty London sees an apt metaphor in the swallows returning to the U.K. after an unusually harsh winter.  First one, then many, the returning swallows remind him of buyers who are likewise returning to the U.K. housing market after the long, cold winter of their real estate correction.

  Read Nick’s blog posting, in its entirety, at the following link.  Can A Swallow Make A Summer?

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