Sales snapshot

Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate broker associate Roger Pettingell didn’t have time to complete a photo shoot of a Sanctuary condo unit before he found the buyer. The unit closed for $2.2 million in the first week of November.

“He knew exactly what he wanted, and when it became available, he hopped on a plane and came down and wrote a contract, even though it wasn’t his normal coming-down time,” Pettingell said.

Sales prices and volume are down slightly for the first 10-and-a-half months of 2014 compared with 2013, but local Realtors say sales are still surging. Moreover, they’re finding buyers are increasingly willing to purchase properties at the highest end of the market of $3 million and more.

Another trend: Buyers are taking less time to make decisions.

“I still feel our inventory’s pretty low,” said Reid Murphy, of Developers Realty Corp. “I think a lot of our local residents are stepping up. I think people were a little nervous in the past.”

Michael Moulton, of Michael Saunders & Co., said buyers still see the relative value of Longboat and the Sarasota area in comparison to similar areas.

“In general people are seeing our values in comparison to, say, Naples,” Moulton said. “A $3 million property here, you get a lot more bang for your bucks, I think.”

In many cases, they’re aided by the Internet, which allows them to compare multiple similar properties, including prices, with a single search, according to Michael Renick, of Team Renick.

“It’s a model that’s similar to the stock market, which is a model that’s pure competition,” he said.

Some buyers are even making purchases without physically visiting the property because new technologies allow them to tour them virtually.

“If a client reaches out from Columbus, Ohio, we would go in with livestreamed videos, walk them through and go out in the backyard without them physically seeing it,” Renick said.

Because the Internet allows potential buyers to shop from anywhere, many agents say they stay busy during the summer off-season.

Pettingell said that most of his buyers are not investors.

“They’re retiring or getting that second home,” he said. “They’re buying that dream.”

2014 Home Sales
$3 million+

BY THE NUMBERS
Figures represent year-to-date sales from Jan. 1 through Nov. 21 for 2012, 2013 and 2014 on Longboat Key that were recorded on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). Some private sales are not included in sales.