Lakewood Ranch sees housing surge

As I reported in my story Thursday, existing home sales in Manatee and Sarasota counties have climbed through summer, increasing prices and shrinking inventory.

The trend is evident in Lakewood Ranch, where strong housing numbers also have carried over to new home construction, the region's employment backbone.

There have been 397 new homes sales in Lakewood Ranch through Aug. 31, a 48 percent surge over last year’s pace, when a total of 391 closed during the entire year, according to Schroeder Manatee Ranch, the community’s developer.

So far this year, buyers have closed on 251 resales in the massive master planned community. That means 61 percent of all 2012 sales have been new homes, a number you would be hard pressed to find anywhere else in Florida.

SMR has 27 builder retail contracts in The Lake Club this year. There are now 214 homes under various stages of construction.

Typically, new homes in Lakewood Ranch are priced about 10 percent above resales, but as the number of foreclosures continues to fall, prices of existing homes are regaining value.

That’s pushed resale prices in the community just 2 percent below new for a comparable property, a trend largely fanned by a lack of resale inventory and contributing to the construction demand.

During the downturn, there were more than 600 existing homes listed on the market in Lakewood Ranch; now there are 115.

About 36 percent of the resales this year have been all cash deals, according to SMR.

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Home building activity on the rise in Manatee

If you read the Bradenton Herald today, you hopefully caught my housing story on how recently thinning inventory of existing single-family homes has impacted the market. If not, catch up here.

As supply slides, bidding wars are erupting on foreclosures. Other desirable properties also are beginning to attract multiple offers, sometimes more than even a seller’s first asking price, records show.

The trend should ultimately increase values across the board –  giving underwater homeowners who have been stuck in an unfit property since the crash with a renewed opportunity to sell.

It also will boost interest in new home construction, which already has unfolded in many measures.

There were 137 new residential building permits pulled in Manatee County in August. While that’s down some from the 154 in July, it remains ahead of last year’s tally by one-third, according to the county.

So far this year, developers have pulled 1,041 new residential building permits in Manatee, a 24 percent jump from the 840 during the same time in 2011.

Much of the progress has come in Lakewood Ranch, which remains a hot spot for buyers seeking new.

For example, Taylor Morrison on Tuesday announced construction of a new model home in one of Lakewood Ranch’s newest communities, Haddington in Country Club East. The neighborhood includes 76 home sites, with houses ranging in size from 2,000 to 4,000 square feet.

For the latest business updates, follow me on Twitter @JoshSalman