Sarasota County's housing market tightened further in July as single-family home sales rose 2.9% year-over-year and available inventory shrank 23.4%, according to data the Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee released Monday, Aug. 17.

The county recorded 744 single-family closings in July, with a median sale price of $493,500, up 5% from July 2025. Active listings fell to 2,736 homes, the steepest inventory decline among the four market segments RASM tracks. That drop pushed months of supply from 5.6 to 3.9, well below the five- to six-month range considered balanced.

Homes also moved faster. The median time to contract fell from 63 days to 52, and the full listing-to-closing cycle shortened from 105 days to 93. Sellers received a median 94.2% of their original asking price, up from 91% a year earlier.

The numbers mark a recovery from a sluggish 2025, when the county's full-year single-family median dipped 6% to $474,700. Year-to-date through July 2026, closed sales totaled 5,256, up 6.1%.

Luxury surge

The high end drove much of the dollar volume. Sarasota County logged 121 single-family sales at $1 million or above in July, a 39.1% jump. Sales between $3 million and $4.99 million climbed 62.5%, and three homes closed at $10 million or more, up from one a year earlier. Total single-family dollar volume hit $568.6 million, a 14.8% increase.

Chris Enfort of Compass Real Estate told Sarasota Magazine that buyers increasingly want move-in-ready homes rather than projects, particularly at the upper end of the market.

Condos: sales up, but buyers cautious

Condo and townhome closings in Sarasota County jumped 33.1% to 318, and the median price rose 13.3% to $340,000. Luxury condo sales surged: 41 units closed at $1 million or more, compared with 12 in July 2025. The average sale price rose 62.7% to $610,513, and dollar volume more than doubled to $194.1 million.

Yet buyers took longer to commit. The median time to contract stretched from 72 days to 92, and listing-to-closing expanded from 113 days to 138. Cash buyers accounted for 59.7% of condo transactions.

"When you're buying into a condo, it's an association. It's a team effort. And if you're joining the wrong team, it can really hurt you," Enfort said, pointing to buyer concerns about association finances.

RASM President David Crawford, broker/owner of Catalist Realty, said in the association's Aug. 17 release that sellers and buyers are "more in alignment" on market value, with sellers pricing more realistically and being rewarded with faster sales cycles.

When Crawford commented on the June data on July 23, he called that month "one of the clearest signals yet that buyers who had been waiting on the sidelines are moving forward." The July figures suggest that momentum held.

RASM's next monthly data release, covering August 2026 sales, is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 16.