Newsletter 38

PRICES EXPECTED TO RISE: Southwest Florida is among a growing number of metropolitan areas where the cost of housing – both to rent or buy – is approaching record highs. A strong turnaround in home sales and a suppressed stock of real estate listings has lifted prices to their highest levels since the boom of the mid-2000’s, while rents are following a similar path. Most top housing economists expect that climb to continue through 2017. The burgeoning recovery has created a divide in the housing market, with baby boomers and investors dominating buyer activity. For more on this story, courtesy of the Sarasota Herald Tribune, please click on this link: Economists predict rising house prices

VACATION HOME INDUSTRY BOOMING: Just ask anyone who has tried to find a parking space on Anna Maria Island, Siesta Beach or Lido Beach in season and they will attest to the popularity of vacation homes. The industry is booming as well-to-do people take advantage of gains in their stock-market portfolios, vacation-home experts said recently at the the National Association of Real Estate Editors conference. Numbers compiled by Home Away, an online marketplace that links vacation-home owners with would-be renters, tell part of the story. Vacation home sales were up 57% in 2014 from 2013, surging to their highest levels since 2003, according to survey results. Sarasota’s vacation rental listings are up 46% in the past five years, and traveler demand for the market is up 63% in that time, Home Away says. Click here for more: Vacation-home market booming

BIG INVESTORS SELLING PROPERTY: One of the largest real estate investors in the nation has started to unload it’s Southwest Florida inventory. Now that housing values are rebounding, Colony Capital Inc. has begun to test the waters as a seller, after buying up distressed homes in Florida during the recovery and converting those homes into rentals. There’s more here: Institutional home buyers selling

MORE SHOPPING AHEAD: Despite growing community concern over traffic congestion and the impact of intense development on the environment, the builder behind the University Town Center gained Sarasota County’s approval to expand the bustling shopping district by more than one-third. Sarasota County commissioners unanimously approved a plan to add another 600,000 square feet of retail and 100,000 square feet of office space to the University Town Center, bringing the hub’s total footprint to about 2.6 million square feet of commercial development. Follow the jump for more: County ok’s UTC expansion

DRAWBRIDGES COULD OPEN LESS OFTEN: The drawbridges to barrier islands in Sarasota and Manatee counties may open less frequently for boat traffic if area transportation planners convince the U.S. Coast Guard to make some schedule adjustments. The Sarasota-Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization passed a resolution asking the Coast Guard to limit bridge openings “to every 30 minutes year-round, and to consider further restricting bridge openings during peak traffic periods for special events and on major holiday weekends.” During the most recent holiday season, drivers trying to get to and from Sarasota and Manatee counties’ barrier islands expressed frustrations with frequent traffic jams, partly due to openings of drawbridges. There’s more on this story here: Drawbridge openings may change