PHOTO GALLERY: Best of Market Snapshot in 2014
It has been another far-flung year for Market Snapshot, with correspondent Chris Angermann and your photographer/real estate editor visiting communities from Cortez in the north to Port Charlotte's Grassy Point in the south, from Sarasota Ranch Club in the east to Holmes Beach in the west.
We got inside the gates of The Oaks Bayside on the high end of the market, and roamed affordable DeSoto Lakes.
A gold tree in full bloom on a March afternoon in Misty Creek, Sarasota. (Staff photo / Harold Bubil) 3-24-2014.
We walked the beach, camera in hand, on south Siesta Key.
A common theme ran through these neighborhoods -- a lack of "inventory," or homes for sale. Realtors complain about it constantly, and we see evidence of it when we are touring the neighborhoods. There are far fewer homes for sale than you would think by looking at the map on Zillow.com.
"The lack of inventory continues to be an issue," Michael Saunders & Co. Realtor Deborah Beacham told our reporter Josh Salman in October. "We are seeing competitive bidding -- in one instance on Casey Key, for the first time in quite a while.
"Properly priced properties will sell in this market."
Another recurring photographic theme was the importance of landscaping and maintenance. Any neighborhood, regardless of "price point," can look good if the grass is cut, the plants are trimmed and the paint is not peeling. Flowers help.
A third theme -- something we see often in the eastern subdivisions -- is the way sandhill cranes have adapted to suburban environments. Sandhill cranes love hanging around construction workers and landscapers as they take their lunch breaks -- and we love photographing the birds as they saunter along the streets, bleating as they go. We just wish they would avoid the highways, especially the Interstate.
Back to real estate, where the market has had one of its best years ever for sales: This week, we take a look at some of the homes we saw this year, and what they (most of them) eventually sold for. Some did not sell at all; they tend to be at the upper end of the market.
