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Latest Market Report
 Click image to view the up to date market conditions in the Sarasota/Longboat Key area.

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Coldwell Banker
Previews Magazine
Wired Wonder: Inside the Luxury Automated Home
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Previews Portfolio
This issue offers an enticing showcase of luxury properties in our area.  Click the cover to view these exceptional homes.
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Click icon to view videos of my Sarasota real estate offerings.



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DISCOVER
NEW CONSTRUCTION


LIDO KEY
  Park Residences of Lido Key offers 3BR/3BA, spacious residences, built on one of the last developmental properties on South Lido Key just steps to the beach. The development is well under construction and one-half of these residences have been sold already.
If you would like more information, please contact me.


GOLDEN GATE POINT

  ONE88 RESIDENCES overlook the John Ringling Bridge and Sarasota Bay. Its eight condominiums start at $2.59M and amenities include a community pool with deck and boat docks. 

  Give me a call if you would like more information about this new downtown project!


 

 

LONGBOAT KEY

  Infinity, located at 4765 Gulf of Mexico Drive will include 11 residences, starting at 3,380 sq. ft. with two penthouses of 6,370 sq. ft. Completion of the building is projected for January 2016. Contact me for more details.
 






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COLDWELL BANKER
RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE
201 Gulf of Mexico Drive, Suite 1
Longboat Key, FL 34228



























 
January, 2015



   The year 2014 closed with a flurry of real estate sales in Sarasota County, propelling the annual total to an all-time record of 11,550 closed transactions, topping the 2004 total of 11,482. In addition,

Manatee County came in at 7,976 sales, within 28 sales of the annual record of 8,004 set in 2013. 

   This is truly historic news, and clearly demonstrates our region is experiencing a remarkable success story in real estate.

  One reason for the overall record may be attributable to the relative affordability of local properties. The overall sales volume was lower in 2014 than the 2004 record total in Sarasota County, when the median sales price for homes and condos was substantially higher than in 2014. While prices have recovered considerably in the past three years, they have not risen to the

levels of a decade ago, when some experts predicted prices had reached unsustainable (and unaffordable) levels.

  Inventory of available properties rose slightly for both Sarasota and Manatee counties in December, but were still low in comparison to the boom years of 2004-2006. This could continue to pressure prices upward in the coming months, due to the law of supply and demand.

  We are seeing a confluence of various factors that all help our market. We have near record low mortgage interest rates, a recovering economy with unemployment at an eight year low, lower energy costs which improves household finances, and all the attributes that make our region such an attractive place to relocate and purchase property. The steady rise of home prices hasn't hampered sales, and therefore I expect more of the same in 2015.

  And with our busy season beginning, uur dynamic real estate community is ready to tackle the market surge that we are expecting.

  Please contact me if you would like more specific information about your particular community or are considering buying or selling.  

           Carolyn Donnelly

     


It's the Celery Fields for ideal  bird watching 

   If you ask some visitors and locals what one of their favorite attractions in Sarasota County is, it's not the Ringling Museum. not Mote Marine Laboratory. not Siesta Beach, the No. 1 beach in the country. It is a 444-acre expanse of fields, lakes and marshes - which also happens to be an ambitious drainage project - that has turned Sarasota County into a topnotch destination for birders.

   Today, the species count at the Celery Fields is 217, impressive considering the count for the entire county is 300. Equally important to bird aficionados, the birds you see here are very worth coming to see.

 The Celery Fields earned its name from its primary crop for about 70 years. At one time, Sarasota was the largest producer of celery in Florida and the seventh largest in the United States. But by 1992, farming had lowered the elevation of the land and depleted the soil.

  Then came the rain. Twenty-two inches fell over a few days. It sent water from the fields into Phillippi Creek and flooded 200 homes in the creek basin.

  The county had to do something, so it bought the Celery Fields - at the eastern edge of the basin - and embarked on a $24 million project of weirs, gates, canals, drain pipes and wetlands restoration.  The idea was to resurrect some of the historic drainage patterns, hold water during heavy rains, let sediments settle, lessen the threat of floods and improve the quality of the water that eventually drains through the basin into Roberts Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.  And by adding water into the system, all the birds started coming back.  there are pleasant walking trails around the fields, and ideal viewing times are early morning and sunset.  Click here for directions, and enjoy the birds!

  


 

  

International Diamond Society Award

Carolyn is a 2014 member of the Coldwell Banker International Diamond Society, ranking in the top 3 percent of Realtors� worldwide. 

  

 

My Featured Properties

 

537 Reclinata Drive | Longboat Key, FL 34228

Pristine new contemporary British West Indian design, 4BR/4.5BA home with 171 feet of private lagoon waterfront, situated in a private enclave of only seven homes with deeded beach access. Click the image for more details on this exceptional home, and click here if you would like additional information. 

Offered at $2,299,000



 

NOW UNDER CONTRACT!
176 Emerson Drive | Sarasota (Lido Key), FL 34236    
Tucked away in a fabulous St. Armand's location at the end of a desirable, quiet, dead-end street and two houses from Lido Beach. Three bedroom, 2 bath beachhouse with separate guest quarters or studio, tropical landscaping, across from North Lido Park. Click the image for more details on this property, and contact me if you would like more information.

Offered at $895,000

 

 

JUST REDUCED!

3923 Roberts Point Road | Sarasota, FL 34242               

Cozy north Siesta Key waterfront 3BR/2BA cottage is set in a natural tropical basin with a dock on a private basin. Minutes by boat to open bay and no bridges.  Click the image for more information about  this offering, and contact me if you would like additional information. 

Offered at $699,000

 

 

 

30607 Singletary Road  |  Sarasota, FL

Private and well maintained 10-acre ranch close to Sarasota. Custom 3BR+Den/2.5BA home built in 2006 by Jonas Yoder. Click the image for more information about this offering, and contact me if you would like additional information. 

Offered at $595,000

 

 

5759 Benevento Drive | Sarasota, FL 34238

Beautiful newer three bedroom, lakefront home in Isles of Sarasota on Palmer Ranch. Open plan, meticulously maintained with views over a sunny lake hosting a variety of wildlife.  Click the image to view more photos of this home and contact me if you would like to schedule a showing!

Offered at $399,000


 

JUST REDUCED!
Longboat Harbour #206H  |  Longboat Key, FL

Spectacular, renovated waterfront 2BR/2BA end residence condo with southern exposure. Recently enjoyed extensive renovations. Click the image for more information about this offering, and contact me if you would like additional information. 

Offered at $334,900