The Lake Sarasota Community Blog

A new blog is now consolidating information, background resources, and current conversation surrounding the proposed changes to Sarasota County's 2050 Comprehensive Plan. The blog is SarasotaVision2050 , and it can be found here: http://sarasotavision2050.blogspot.com/ The stakes are not trivial for communities East of I-75. If developers get the green light to start building all at once, not only will they choke our roads and land with excessive housing, but the new housing will dilute and degrade the market of existing homes - yours and mine - in Sarasota County. What's more, the developers will be competing against each other for a very limited resource - the high-end retiree market. Instead they should be planning a knock-out beautiful public vision of East Sarasota - and let the developers consider all kinds of housing - for working people, families, as well as rich retirees. If the changes to 2050 pass, and it is expected they will at a County hearing on Oct. 22 (...

The Sarasota 2050 plan offers generous development options in exchange for taxpayer and community protections. But what began as a compromise and is being finagled into a free ride. More here. What one community leader is saying: The deal struck with Sarasota 2050 is this: If you want to develop rural land at high density before we need to move the USB, then you pay for the infrastructure and develop in an efficient, environmentally friendly way that creates enough tax revenue to pay for the services the development requires. Now 6 firms want to keep increased density and welch on the rest. This isn't about the free market, this is about a free ride. - Cathy Antunes, vp Sarasota CONA Find out for yourself: Sarasota County Public Information Meetings about 2050:      June 18, 2014   Robert L. Anderson Administration Center,  Commission Chamber, 4000 S.Tamiami Tr., Venice, FL  June 26, 2014  County Administration Center, Co...

The latest real estate trends for the area, courtesy of Sandy Allen: Median sale prices for single family homes sold in Sarasota County in November 2013 were up 20.6 percent over last November, a clear sign that recent price appreciation in the single family home market is continuing unabated. Single family home prices were at $187,000 this November compared to only $155,000 last November. The median sale price for single family for the 12 month period ending Nov. 30, 2013 was $181,700, up 23 percent over last year at this time ($147,000). Comparing November to October, prices were up slightly for single family from $185,776 last month. ... Total property sales in Sarasota County continued to moderate in November 2013. Overall property sales stood at 760 (531 single family homes and 229 condos), compared to 818 in October 2013 (582 and 236, respectively). In November 2012, 552 single family homes and 278 condos were sold. "The November 2013 statistics indicate that the local m...

The latest Realtor's report is out for the Sarasota area: Median sale prices climbed dramatically in Sarasota County in October 2013 compared to last October numbers. Single family home prices were up 11.6 percent ($185,776 this year compared to only $166,500 last year), and condo prices spiked by 20.7 percent ($175,000 this year compared to only $145,000 last October).   “There was definitely a shift in October toward single family and away from condos,” said SAR President Roger Piro. “That might be a function of the price escalation, which was far more pronounced in the condo category. Also in October, there were fewer properties on the market priced under $200,000 than last year, and more priced above $200,000. So bargain hunters have had to adjust their sights upward, where there are more deals to be found.” More here. A few additional bits about the Lake Sarasota area shared by Sandy Allen,: For sold single-family properties in the past 6 months t...

March property sales highest total since August 2005 Property sales in the Sarasota real estate market remained hot in March 2013 and for the first quarter of 2013. The March 2013 sales figure of 887 was the highest total since August 2005, and for the full first quarter, sales were 11.3 percent higher than in 2012. Members of the Sarasota Association of Realtors ®  sold 628 single family homes and 259 condominiums in March 2013. That compared to 504 single family homes and 229 condos sold in February 2013, for a 21-percent increase over last month and 6.7 percent higher than March 2012. The huge number of sales coincided with an impressive increase in the median sales price, especially for single family homes. The figure of $210,000 for single family homes was the highest since August 2008 - nearly five years ago. For condos, the median was $182,000. The condo figure has fluctuated substantially over the past few years, dropping to a low point of $127,000 in July 201...

According to one of our resident real estate folks, this group of speculators has purchased the home at the entrance of Lake Sarasota - on the right on Mauna Loa as one is exiting Lake Sarasota onto Bee Ridge: The Blackstone Group and its partners have bought another 39 rental homes in Sarasota and Manatee counties. (Shutterstock photo) By  Michael Braga Published: Monday, December 3, 2012 at 1:01 p.m. Last Modified: Monday, December 3, 2012 at 1:01 p.m. During the past three weeks, the Blackstone Group and its partners have bought another 39 rental homes in Sarasota and Manatee counties. The company and its subsidiaries paid $3.5 million, or an average of $117,300 per house, for 31 houses in Sarasota. Blackstone and its partners paid another $1.65 million, or an average of $207,000 per house, for eight properties in Manatee, records show. That brings the total number of houses purchased in the two counties by Blackstone and its partners to 76 since th...