The median price for an existing home in Charlotte County increases to $188,700 in February.
Low inventory and high demand for houses pushed the Sarasota-Bradenton housing market into the top spot statewide with a 41 percent price increase.
For February, the median price for existing homes in the market was $289,000 compared with $204,800 during the same month last year, a report from the Florida Association of Realtors showed.
That jump eclipsed runner-up Melbourne's 38 percent rise and a 37 percent increase in Fort Myers.
Meanwhile, Charlotte County-North Port's median price bumped up a respectable 28 percent to $188,700 last month.
"My impression of this market is that it has always been on the incline, but now we've kicked in the after-burners, like the Blue Angels," said Kim Gilliland, co-owner of Sarasota's Prudential Cascade Realty.
Realtors and brokers say the price push is hardly surprising given the year-long drought in available houses and the bustling demand by retirees and families.
While the median price rose sharply, the volume of home sales was virtually unchanged in February, inching to 931 from 927 a year ago. Volume in the Charlotte County-North Port market actually declined 9 percent, to 260.
Real estate agents say that coupled with surging prices, the flat sales are indicative of higher demand, even though a wave of new construction is hitting South Sarasota and eastern and northern Manatee County.
"I like to call the market frantic," said Nick Figlow, general manager of Re/Max Gulfstream in Manatee County. "It's so good it's tough. There are more buyers than properties."
Sarasota, in particular, is tough.
Donna Hampton, an agent at Re/Max Properties, said Sarasota's Multiple Listing Service shows half as many homes as a year ago.
"At the end of February 2005, the total amount of listings on the market were 1,024. In 2004, we had 2,072 houses," she said.
Not counting new houses, the MLS recorded 391 closings for total sales of $194,150,000 in February. A year ago, 410 homes sold for $153,675,000.
That means the average existing-home price soared 32 percent in one year in Sarasota, from $374,817 to $496,547.
"Dollar figures are up, and we have less to sell and more buyers, which represents a true seller's market," she said.
Gilliland provided an example that speaks to buyers' fervor.
On Feb. 4, Gilliland listed a $289,000 home in the east Sarasota community of Sarasota Golf Club, thinking "we were shooting a little high."
By the end of the next day, though, the seller had two offers: one for full price and another for $294,000. The sellers were about to initial the latter offer that evening when the agent with the full-price offer asked if her buyer could up the ante.
By the end of the night, both buyers had bid $296,000. The sellers favored the Canadian who first offered $294,000. Gilliland wondered at the offer of $4,100 over list price. It turned out the man was down from Canada for limited time and already had lost out on the first three homes he had bid on.
"So he decided he was going to come in guns-a-blazing, and he almost didn't get it because somebody else was so willing to outbid him."
Gilliland's tale is not unique.
Agents note that in some cases sellers are simply planting signs in their yards and waiting for multiple offers to stream in. Homes from $200,000 to $350,000 are selling the fastest.
Sue Louis, president of Coldwell Banker's Sarasota-Bradenton market, said one possible culprit for the higher numbers is the shrinking inventory at the market's lower end.
With so few houses available below $300,000, real estate agents are deriving most of their business from closings in the $350,000 to $1 million. The resulting shift to higher-end sales is raising the median price.
"In our MLS it is showing $465,000 as our average sale for 2005. Our average list price is double that, like $900,000," Louis said. "The listings that are on the market are upper-end listings, so it skews the numbers upward, and the inventory is dwindling in that average sales price range."
If the low inventory/high demand scenario lingers for too long it could spark a backlash. Real estate agents say some of that already is occurring: Buyers are looking elsewhere, not so much to escape Sarasota but to find destinations with more inventory.
Not everyone agrees that the single-family market is as robust as that reported by the Realtors association.
Economist Henry Fishkind, the owner of an Orlando consulting firm, said previously that "values cannot continue to double every three years."
The Realtors association bases its numbers on home sales through the Realtor-administered MLS. That system rules out new houses, those sold by owners and condominiums. When those dwellings are factored in, the housing market might not look nearly as strong.
But Keller-Williams agent Steve Dutoit remains convinced. He recently lost a buyer to Hilton Head, S.C., because the selection of homes in Sarasota was too meager.
Five years ago, the customer couldn't wait to move to Sarasota, but now that he's ready to move the selection of homes was too thin.
"He could not find the quality of home he was looking for," he said.
Dutoit's own listings have dwindled recently from a normally robust 25 to just four.
"And listings is what drives the business, keeps the phone ringing," he said.
In Charlotte County-North Port, Hurricane Charley's impact is still weighing down the market.
On one hand, some displaced home owners are back, and they're looking for houses to buy. But on the other, many Charlotte County home owners are still rebuilding and staying put.
The result is a mixed bag of higher prices and low inventory. Homes priced $400,000 and above are showing the most resiliency, though.
"When the damage is corrected and the repairs are done, that should free up inventory," said Bob Roberts, a real estate agent at Century 21 Awards.