I am a monthly contributor to Bank of America's Realtor survey and below, with permission from Dan Oppenheim of Bank of America, is the results of the Sarasota Florida area survey. Remember that August and September are ALWAYS the worst months for Real Estate in our area. Things should pick up as "season" develops! If you would like a copy of the entire survey - let me know and I'll e-mail you a copy - Mike W.

Sarasota, FL

(6,331 single-family permits in 2006, 45th largest market in the country)

Traffic well below expectations. Our traffic index fell to 20.7 in September from 35.1 in August, pointing to buyer traffic far short of agents' expectations (readings below 50 suggest traffic short of expectations). 73% of agents said traffic was below expectations, 15% said it exceeded expectations, and 12% said it was in-line with expectations.

Prices and incentives worsen. Our price index came in essentially unchanged at 12.8 in September from 11.1 in August, still pointing to sequentially lower prices as any reading below 50 indicates falling prices. 74% of agents said prices declined relative to August and 26% said they were unchanged. Incentives also deteriorated, as our index was up slightly to 28.8 in September from 25.0 in August. 49% of agents said incentives increased, 45% said they were unchanged, and 6% said they declined.

Length of time needed to sell a home increased - a negative indicator for future pricing. Our time to sell index fell to 15.8 in September from 26.4 in August, indicating a longer time needed to sell a home over the past 30 days (a reading of 50 would suggest the time to sell was unchanged). 74% of agents said it took longer to sell a home, 21% said the time to sell was unchanged, and 5% said it took less time to sell a home as compared with last month. We view the longer time to sell as a negative indicator for future pricing trends.

􀁘 "Appraisers are beginning to incorporate short sales and foreclosures into values."

􀁘 "There are no jumbos at reasonable rates."

WCI Communities, Standard Pacific, and Lennar have the greatest exposure.

WCI has the most exposure to the Sarasota market, as it represented approximately 7% of the company's 2005 sales. Sarasota represented 3% of Standard Pacific's sales and 2% of Lennar's sales.