One Real Estate Agent Delves Into the Sarasota-Bradenton Housing Market

An article in the Sarasota Herald Tribune recently reported on Jake Morse.

He lives with his grandparents in Venice and worked as a car valet at the local hospital - until he recently decided to become a Florida real estate agent.

Many may question this decision because the Sarasota-Bradenton market just witnessed a 48 percent decline in January closings. Moreover, there are three times more homes for sale now than a year ago.

“The market itself is very vast and growing,” Morse said. “You don’t have to go more than 60 miles to get to a beach. That means a lot of waterfront homes and properties, so that brings up the value of the real estate industry, really.”

Sounds like someone could have been reading a certain book about real estate investing.

Though the Gulf Coast real estate market has clearly slowed from last year’s fevered pitch, it has not stopped new recruits like Morse from jumping into the game.

The newcomers face stiff competition from the existing army of agents whose numbers have more than doubled in the past five years. If the sales pace remains this slow in coming months, a game that has been a such a generally win-win situation could turn into survival of the fittest.

The number of real estate agents who pay for membership in the Sarasota Association of Realtors has risen 109 percent since early 2001, to a total of 4,861.

It is the same story down south - even more exaggerated - with the Punta Gorda-Port Charlotte-North Port Association of Realtors showing a 123 percent five-year increase in paying members to 1,648. Statewide, the number has doubled to 154,558 in five years.

“As hot as the real estate market has been in the last few years, we have had lots of new members,” said Marla Martin, spokeswoman for the Florida Association of Realtors.

But if residential real estate has peaked or plateaued, it is quite possible that the number of agents has peaked or plateaued as well and that the game is going to get a lot tougher for those who just now start playing.

“There is no question that people who are not well-prepared are going to go by the wayside,” said Bob Hogue, owner of the Bob Hogue School of Real Estate. His operation is one of the largest in the state, with classes and marketing efforts reaching from New Port Richey to Port Charlotte.

For realtors, just like individuals, the state of Florida home loans is something to keep an eye on. Their jobs depend on it.