The shift from a fast-paced seller’s market to a buyer-driven environment has brought new challenges for property owners in Sarasota, according to Brett Keyser of RE/MAX Alliance Group. In a recent interview, Keyser discussed how extended selling timelines and evolving pricing expectations are influencing the local real estate market.
“A lot of sellers still think it’s a seller’s market, and they don’t realize that the market has dropped a lot,” said Keyser, who has worked through multiple market cycles since starting his real estate career in 2008 after the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
The Sarasota market has changed significantly, moving from homes selling in just four days on average to current timelines often exceeding 80 days, with some properties taking even longer to sell.
Keyser points to the widening gap between seller expectations and actual market conditions as one of the biggest challenges in today’s housing environment. Many sellers, he explains, anchor their pricing to outdated sales data, while current listings are already adjusting downward, yet still struggling to find buyers. As a result, properties often linger on the market longer than expected, forcing repeated price reductions. This slow process of “chasing the market down,” Keyser notes, can stretch listings over many months and ultimately reduce final sale prices.
Keyser noted the impact of unrealistic pricing on both agents and clients. “Last year, I think it was like six or seven properties that I just lost, just because they didn’t listen to me. You know, it’s like six months later, and now they’ve lost a lot more money because the market has come down.”
Keyser also highlights the challenge of giving clients honest feedback in a declining market. Telling sellers what they want to hear, he explains, ultimately helps no one. Both agents and owners lose time and money when properties fail to sell. For listings that clearly won’t meet seller expectations, he now focuses on alternative strategies from the outset. This proactive approach marks a departure from traditional listing methods, acknowledging that some properties may need creative or nontraditional paths to reach a successful outcome.
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