The recent real estate nightmare presents an opportunity for those ready to take advantage of it. Home prices in 20 major cities dropped 33% from mid-2006 to the early-2009. Some real estate markets suffered even worse price drops. And now, 30-year fixed mortgage rates have fallen to an average of 4.35%, the lowest level in nearly 40 years.
"Right now, housing is about as affordable as it has been since at least the 1970s," said Patrick Newport, a IHS Global Insight economist. Sarasota Florida is one of the best places to find an affordable home in a very desirable locale right now.
Although home prices in Sarasota soared during the boom, the subsequent crash hit the Sarasota - Bradenton real estate market as hard as anywhere in Florida. Median home prices fell from $311,000 in 2007 to $185,000 by June, 2010.
"The steep drop in home prices has made Sarasota an extremely attractive place to buy a home at these price levels," says Judie Berger, a well-known Sarasota real estate agent. "Sarasota, being a smaller town, is a much more pleasant place to live than Florida's major metropolitan areas like Tampa, Orlando or Miami/Fort Lauderdale." she says.
Sarasota may actually be the premier "golf town" in Florida, but for those with other interests or desires, the Sarasota- Bradenton - Venice corridor offers the finest, softest beach in the country on Siesta key plus eight other great beaches, an eclectic variety of shopping and dining venues, as well as year-round boating, sailing and fishing and a year-round average temperature of 73 degrees. No wonder Sarasota Florida was rated among the nation's "15 most livable communities" by Money Magazine.
Jack McCabe of McCabe Research & Consulting says "It's a great market. I really expect in the next 20 years it is going to be one of the most desirable ( real estate ) markets in Florida for baby boomers to retire."
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