David Barr's Sarasota and Venice Real Estate Blog

South Venice is a eclectic neighborhood that deserves a look if you are considering real estate in Venice FL. South Venice has an optional HOA, and optional access to the South Venice Ferry , which transports residents from the mainland to an unspoiled stretch of Caspersen Beach. South Venice is 100% single family homes, predominately 2 or 3 bedrooms and 1 or 2 baths.  Lot sizes range from 8,000 to 12,000 square feet.  Most of the homes in South Venice have private septic and well water. Home prices in South Venice are rising with the continued improvement in our local real estate market, but have not yet returned to 2006 levels. Learn more about South Venice, view current homes for sale , download a free demographic report, and get email updates for the latest South Venice real estate on my website, www.davidbarrhomes.com .

We're halfway through the year and I thought I'd take a look at how the first six months of 2015 stacked up against 2014.  I'll be doing this for many popular Venice FL neighborhoods in the coming days and weeks, but today's blog post starts with South Venice. The biggest takeaways from this analysis are that the median sales price increased 22% over the first six months of 2014, and sellers found themselves in control in price negotiations, with only a 2% difference between the list price and the sales price of the property.  Demand was high in 2015, with days on market 37% shorter than in 2014. This also brings up another issue I hear from potential buyers who want to rent before they buy.  If you decided to rent first in South Venice, you likely spent about $14,000 on an annual rental. While you waited a year to buy, the same house was $23,500 more.  That's $37,500 in lost equity. Waiting to get in the real estate market costs a lot of money. ...