Wagner Realty announces increase in pending sales

Wagner Realty President David Eckel announced today that the company’s year-to-date number of pending sales is up 42% from last year. May 2009 pending sales are 35% higher than they were in May 2008.

Eckel said the company’s numbers showed the strength of the Sarasota-Bradenton market compared to the national market.

“A real barometer of the market is what’s happening locally this week and this month, not what happens elsewhere,” said Eckel in a press release.

According to Ron Cornette, marketing director at Wagner Realty, the sales spike is the result of the drastically reduced prices in the marketplace. Although some pending sales involve foreclosures and short sales, these transactions are in the minority, Cornette said.

Western and northwestern Bradenton sales have been strong, Cornette said. Sales on Longboat Key and Anna Maria Island have fluctuated from month to month, although the company’s island rental business has experienced an increase in activity.

“It looks like we’ve hit rock bottom, and it wasn’t a concrete slab,” Cornette said. “It was a trampoline.”