Downtown Sarasota's Condo Resales Are Sorting Sellers by the Year They Bought

In August, a two-bedroom, two-bath condominium on the seventh floor of Rivo at Ringling sold for $620,000. Its owners had paid $700,000 for it in 2022. Two months later, Unit 1205 in the same building at 1771 Ringling Blvd. sold for $668,000. That unit has 1,483 square feet, and its owners had bought it in 2019 for $490,000.

The two units share a building and an address on Ringling Boulevard. One sale closed $80,000 below its 2022 price, and the other closed $178,000 above its 2019 price. The clearest difference between them is the year each unit last changed hands.

That pattern runs through nearly every downtown Sarasota condo resale reported this fall, and it changes how an asking price should be read. A listing in a downtown tower tells you very little until you know when the seller bought.

Most 2022 Purchases Resold for Less

The Observer's weekly residential sales roundups list each condo sale with its building, its year built and the unit's prior sale price. Read side by side from early August through Oct. 22, the downtown sales fall into groups by purchase year more clearly than by building age.

The below-cost sales span buildings completed in 2021, 2007 and 1989, and addresses from the bayfront on Gulfstream to North Tamiami Trail and the Rosemary District edge. They share a purchase date in 2022 or 2023. Sarasota Bay Club on Tamiami Trail is the exception in the 2022 group: Unit 408 resold for $1.25 million after $820,400 in 2022, and Unit 922 resold for $1.2 million after $775,000 in 2022.

The long-time owners show the opposite. Every seller in these roundups who bought between 2011 and 2020 sold for more than they paid, across buildings of every era. That includes Essex House, built in 1974, where a unit bought for $450,000 in 2017 sold for $700,000. It includes Kanaya on South Orange Avenue, where a 3,003-square-foot unit bought for $1.13 million in 2013 sold for $1.52 million. And it includes Vue on North Gulfstream, where Unit 908 went from $1.58 million in 2020 to $1.9 million. Marquee en Ville on Cocoanut Avenue is the one older purchase that lost money. Unit 117-C sold for $749,000 after a $935,800 purchase in 2006, the year the building was completed.

The County Median Explains the Split

The countywide numbers explain the split. In the third quarter of 2026, the Sarasota County condo and townhome median sale price rose 6.4% year over year to $324,380, according to the REALTOR Association of Sarasota and Manatee. That is real progress from last year. Even so, Sarasota Magazine reported that the county's condo and townhome median remains below the levels recorded through much of 2022, 2023 and 2024.

So a market can be rising and still sit below its recent peak. Owners who bought at that peak need the market to climb back before they break even. Owners who bought in 2013 or 2019 bought well below today's prices and can sell into a recovering market with room to spare. Most of the downtown resales above fit that arithmetic.

September's Average Was Driven by Ten Closings

The average sale price tells a very different story, and it misleads. In September 2026, the Sarasota County condo and townhome average sale price was $1,082,129, up 157.9% from September 2025. Over the same month the median rose just 6.3% to $335,000.

The gap comes from ten closings. RASM reported that ten Sarasota condos and townhomes sold for $10 million or more in the third quarter, against none a year earlier, and all ten closed in September. The association's own report says averages are more sensitive than medians to a small number of very high-priced sales. Dollar volume for the month reached $334.4 million, up from $96.5 million. A seller who prices from that average is pricing against ten sales, not against the market a typical downtown unit competes in.

The same distortion will likely return soon. The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Sarasota Bay at The Quay is a 78-unit tower. The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported in September that it was 68% sold, with residences starting at $4.1 million and completion slated for the fourth quarter of 2026. If those closings arrive close together, the county averages will jump again, and that jump will say little about a 1,500-square-foot unit on Gulfstream Avenue.

The Newest Towers Have Mostly Held Their Prices

The recently completed buildings around The Quay sit in their own category. Their owners bought recently, but mostly at prices that held. At Bayso Sarasota, built in 2023, Unit 1210 sold for $1.85 million after a $1.72 million purchase in 2023, and Unit 1704 sold for $1.63 million after $1.50 million in 2024. At The DeMarcay on South Palm Avenue, built in 2024, Unit 902 sold for $875,000 after $790,000 in 2024. Block 6 posted the largest gain of the fall. Unit 1501 at 401 Quay Commons sold for $6.76 million, after selling for $4 million in 2021.

Citrus Residences, also built in 2021, sold a unit for $150,000 less than its 2023 price. Citrus Residences and Block 6 were completed in the same year, and their resales this fall moved in opposite directions.

What This Means at the Negotiating Table

A seller's purchase year shapes how they negotiate. An owner who bought in 2011 can accept a modest offer and still walk away well ahead. An owner who bought in 2022 may be weighing a loss, or simply choosing to wait. Countywide, sellers are already giving ground. In the third quarter of 2026, Sarasota County condo and townhome sellers received a median of 92.0% of their original list price, up from 88.4% a year earlier. Months of supply stood at 4.9 for condos and townhomes against 3.7 for single-family homes, and RASM describes the condo figure as closer to balance.

"I've seen what I would call ridiculous offers be accepted by sellers."

Greg Wood, broker and owner of Venice-based Cerus Realty, said that to Sarasota Magazine in its third-quarter market coverage. In the same piece, Wood said buyers have largely moved past the initial shock over large post-Surfside assessments. Sarasota Magazine added that buyers still need to understand a building's financial obligations, including potential future assessments.

Cash also changes the conversation. In the third quarter of 2026, 60.9% of Sarasota County condo and townhome purchases were paid in cash. That leaves sellers comparing offers on terms and certainty as much as on price.

For a buyer weighing a downtown condo this season, a practical reading order looks like this:

1. Find the seller's purchase year and price. The Observer prints prior sales beside each closed sale, and a list price measured against that number shows how much room the seller has.
2. Compare against the median, not the average. The county median for the period is the benchmark for a typical unit. The average swings with a handful of eight-figure closings.
3. Look at same-building resales across purchase years. Rivo at Ringling, Condominium on the Bay, Embassy House, Sarabande and Marquee en Ville each recorded more than one resale this fall.
4. Review the association's finances before settling on a price. That means reserves, recent assessments and anything planned.

Condo association finances and assessment obligations differ by building. This post is general market information, not legal or financial advice, so confirm the specifics of any purchase with your attorney and lender.

FAQ

Why did the Sarasota condo average price jump so much in September 2026?

All ten of Sarasota County's $10 million-plus condo and townhome closings in the third quarter of 2026 landed in September. That pushed the month's average to $1,082,129, while the median rose 6.3% to $335,000.

Are newer downtown towers holding value better than older buildings?

The newest towers at The Quay, Bayso and Block 6, mostly resold above their purchase prices this fall. Citrus Residences, built in 2021, resold below its 2023 price, and older buildings such as Sarabande and Condominium on the Bay produced large gains for long-time owners. Across these sales, the purchase year predicted the outcome better than the building's age did.

When do the next market figures come out?

RASM's October 2026 figures for Sarasota County are scheduled for release on Nov. 16, 2026.

Whether you are pricing a downtown residence you bought years ago or weighing an offer on a unit at The Quay, the seller's purchase year belongs in the conversation from the start. Gigi Kuster can walk you through the building-by-building resale history behind any downtown listing before you set a price or make an offer. Create Your Sarasota Lifestyle.