Twelve months ago, a buyer shopping for a single-family home between $700,000 and $800,000 in Sarasota or Manatee County had roughly 490 active listings to choose from. Today there are 318.
That is the sharpest decline of any price band in this market, and it is the clearest example of what the July numbers show overall: inventory is still thinning, but for the first time in months, new listings pushed back.
All figures below come from the Florida Realtors Monthly Market Detail for the North Port, Sarasota, and Bradenton MSA, released August 17, 2026, covering single-family homes.
July 2026 at a glance
| Metric | July 2026 | July 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Closed sales | 1,438 | 1,347 | +6.8% |
| Median sale price | $495,000 | $480,000 | +3.1% |
| Average sale price | $721,661 | $660,020 | +9.3% |
| Median time to contract | 50 days | 60 days | −16.7% |
| Percent of original list received | 94.7% | 92.3% | +2.6% |
| Active inventory | 5,460 | 6,533 | −16.4% |
| Months supply of inventory | 4.0 | 5.2 | −23.1% |
| New listings | 1,610 | 1,469 | +9.6% |
Source: Florida Realtors, North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton MSA, single-family homes, July 2026.
New listings turned positive, and that is the story
New listings rose 9.6 percent, from 1,469 last July to 1,610 this July. That is the first year-over-year increase this market has posted in months. In June, new listings were down 0.8 percent. In the year to date, they are still running below 2025.
One month does not reverse a trend. But it is the first month in a long stretch where the supply side moved in the direction buyers need, and it is worth watching whether August confirms it.
Closed sales rose 6.8 percent to 1,438. Year to date, closed sales are up 7.7 percent at 10,134, so the monthly figure is broadly in line with the trend rather than a one-month spike. The median price tells a similar story: $495,000 for the month, up 3.1 percent, against a year-to-date median of $485,000, up 2.1 percent. Prices are rising modestly, not sharply.
The average sale price is the outlier, up 9.3 percent to $721,661. That gap between median and average is worth naming. It reflects strength at the top of the market pulling the average upward, not a broad nine percent gain across every home in the county.
Supply is still the constraint
Months supply of inventory is the metric worth watching. Florida Realtors treats 5.5 months as the balance point between a buyer's market and a seller's market. Above that favors buyers, below it favors sellers.
In July 2025, this market sat at 5.2 months. In July 2026, it sits at 4.0. Active inventory fell 16.4 percent over the year, from 6,533 homes to 5,460.
Two things temper that. First, the rate of decline is easing: inventory was down 22 percent in June and 16.4 percent in July. Second, new listings just turned positive. Both point in the same direction, which is a market that is still tight but no longer tightening as fast. There are 1,870 homes currently under contract.
What sellers should take from this
Homes are moving faster. Median time to contract fell from 60 days to 50, a 16.7 percent improvement. Median time to sale is 98 days, down from 103.
Pricing discipline still decides the outcome. The median seller received 94.7 percent of their original list price, up from 92.3 percent a year ago. That is real improvement, and it still means the typical home sold about five percent below where it was first listed. Lower competition does not make an overpriced listing work. It means a correctly priced home draws attention quickly, while an overpriced one sits and negotiates anyway.
Your price band matters more than the county average. Closed sales in the $600,000 to $699,999 range rose 21.7 percent, and the $200,000 to $299,999 range rose 19.8 percent. But the $700,000 to $799,999 band fell 10.2 percent, and $300,000 to $399,999, the largest segment by volume at 335 sales, was down 2.0 percent. A market-wide summary is misleading if your home sits in a band running against the trend.
What buyers should take from this
Buyer leverage in this market is almost entirely a function of price range. The bars below show how far active inventory fell in each band over the past year.
| Price range | Active listings | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under $200,000 | 43 | −20.4% | |
| $200,000 to $299,999 | 296 | −10.0% | |
| $300,000 to $399,999 | 1,169 | −7.5% | |
| $400,000 to $499,999 | 983 | −15.7% | |
| $500,000 to $599,999 | 639 | −23.8% | |
| $600,000 to $699,999 | 429 | −29.2% | |
| $700,000 to $799,999 | 318 | −35.0% | |
| $800,000 to $899,999 | 240 | −11.4% | |
| $900,000 to $999,999 | 174 | −0.6% | |
| $1,000,000 and above | 1,169 | −12.8% |
Source: Florida Realtors, North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton MSA, single-family homes, July 2026. Highlighted rows are the three tightest segments in the market.
The middle of the market is where selection has thinned the most. Between $500,000 and $800,000 there are 1,386 active listings today against roughly 1,900 a year ago. If you are shopping that range, you have close to 30 percent fewer options than a buyer had last summer.
The entry and lower-middle bands held up better. The $300,000 to $399,999 range is down only 7.5 percent and still carries the largest active count of any segment at 1,169 listings. The $900,000 to $999,999 band is essentially flat at −0.6 percent.
One more factor to plan around: 442 of July's closings were cash purchases, or 30.7 percent of all sales. If you are financing, expect to compete against cash on well-priced listings and structure your offer with that in mind.
The luxury market is running on two different clocks
The upper end posted strong volume. 198 homes closed above one million dollars, up 28.6 percent year over year. The $3,000,000 to $4,999,999 range saw 18 closings against 12 last July, up 50 percent, and those homes went under contract in a median of 58 days, 29.3 percent faster than a year ago.
Above five million dollars, the picture inverts. Median time to contract in the $5,000,000 to $9,999,999 range is 171 days, up 128 percent. Above ten million dollars it is 204 days, up 245.8 percent. Both more than doubled in a year.
Inventory explains part of it. Every band below three million dollars saw active listings fall. The three bands above it were the only segments in the entire market where inventory grew: $3M to $5M rose 2.0 percent, $5M to $10M rose 10.2 percent, and above $10M rose 5.3 percent.
More supply and longer timelines in the same tier means pricing strategy above five million has to be built on comparable sales and patience, not on what the county median is doing.
What this means if you are making a move
Every neighborhood in Sarasota and Manatee moves differently than the county numbers, and as the tables above show, so does every price band. If you want to know what your home is worth in today's market, or what your buying power looks like in the range you are shopping, we will walk you through it with the actual data for your address.
All data from Florida Realtors Monthly Market Detail, North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton MSA, single-family homes, July 2026, released August 17, 2026. Market data reflects past activity and is not a prediction of future results. Equal Housing Opportunity. Licensed real estate brokerage in the State of Florida.
