Sarasota County condos sell more slowly than houses, but closing day isn't where the extra time goes. In August 2026, the median townhouse or condo took 83 days to go under contract and about 124 days from listing to closing. Single-family homes took 47 days and 91 days. Subtract one median from the other and a condo spent roughly 41 days between contract and closing. A house spent roughly 44. Medians don't subtract perfectly, but the pattern holds. Nearly all of the extra time comes before anyone signs.
The market data doesn't say why the gap sits there. It does show where a condo listing loses time, which is in finding a buyer willing to commit. Each condo deal also involves the building along with the unit, and since 2025 there has been much more of the building to understand.
The August numbers, side by side
These figures come from the Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee's August 2026 report, released September 16, 2026. They cover all of Sarasota County.
| Sarasota County, August 2026 | Townhouse/Condo | Single-Family |
|---|---|---|
| Closed sales | 281 | 646 |
| Median sale price | $310,000 | $470,000 |
| Median days to contract | 83 | 47 |
| Median days, listing to closing | about 124 | 91 |
| Months of supply | 5.2 | 3.7 |
| Share of sales paid in cash | 59.8% | 37.3% |
| Median share of original list price received | 91.6% | 94.7% |
The cash row explains the most. Six in ten condo closings in August 2026 had no lender involved. For houses, it was fewer than four in ten. The full year of 2025 looked the same, with cash in 64.7% of condo and townhome sales and 40.8% of single-family sales. No public data ties that cash share to any particular building's lending status. What the gap does show is a condo market where many deals skip mortgage underwriting entirely. The buyers who do need a loan face a process that starts with the association rather than with them.
What a buyer receives before committing
Florida's post-Surfside laws gave condo buyers a stack of documents, and a right to walk away after reading them.
In a resale by an owner other than the developer, Florida Statute 718.503 entitles the buyer to current association documents at the seller's expense. The list includes the latest structural integrity reserve study, or a statement that it isn't done, and the milestone inspection summary where one applies. Contracts must also disclose any required study or inspection that's missing. Under the current statute, the buyer can void the contract within seven days, not counting Saturdays, Sundays, or legal holidays, after both signing the contract and receiving the required documents. If the buyer asks in writing, closing can be pushed back up to seven of those days after the documents arrive, and the right ends at closing. The 2026 statutory revision act, Chapter 2026-14, amended this section only to fix cross-references. The review right stayed in place.
The documents behind that review are new for most buildings. According to the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, a condo or co-op building three or more habitable stories tall needs a milestone inspection at age 30 and every 10 years after. Local officials can move the first one up to age 25 because of conditions such as proximity to salt water. Phase 1 is visual. Phase 2 follows only if Phase 1 finds substantial structural deterioration. Associations with buildings of three or more habitable stories also need a structural integrity reserve study at least every 10 years.
The deadlines line up with the slower market. Associations that existed on or before July 1, 2022 and are controlled by unit owners had to finish their reserve study by December 31, 2025. Associations with a milestone inspection due by December 31, 2026 could combine the two, but the study still has to be done by that date, which is less than three months away. DBPR says budgets adopted on or before December 31, 2024 could vote to waive or reduce these reserves, but had to start funding according to the study on January 1, 2026. Budgets adopted on or after January 1, 2025 can't waive them. HB 913, signed in June 2025, added some flexibility. It allowed a two-year pause in reserve contributions so associations could pay for critical repairs found in milestone inspections first, and it raised the repair cost that triggers inclusion in the study from $10,000 to $25,000.
So a condo buyer in 2026 is reading a building whose finances may have just changed. Reserve funding under the new studies started this year, and some associations are still finishing their studies this fall. In Sarasota Magazine's look at year-end 2025 data, a local real estate professional linked closer buyer scrutiny of condos to higher HOA costs and special assessments that followed the inspection and reserve requirements.
The lender reads the same folder, with stricter rules since August
For a financed buyer, the lender has to review the building in addition to the buyer. Fannie Mae changed that review this year.
Fannie Mae's Lender Letter LL-2026-03, dated March 18, 2026, retired the Limited Review process. Lenders had to stop using it for all loan applications dated on or after August 3, 2026. Established projects that used to qualify for the lighter review now need a Full Review or, where eligible, a Waiver of Project Review. Fannie says the change also ends the last geographic restrictions that applied to Florida. The same letter widened the waiver to new and established projects with ten or fewer units, with conditions. It also ended a Florida-only step that sent new attached-unit projects to Fannie's Project Eligibility Review Service.
Reserves got stricter too. When a lender uses a reserve study to show a project's reserves are adequate, the budget now has to include the highest reserve amount the study recommends. The baseline funding method, which lets the reserve balance get close to zero, isn't allowed for applications dated on or after August 3, 2026. For Full Review applications dated on or after January 4, 2027, the minimum reserve allocation rises from 10% to 15% of the annual budgeted assessment income. That rule isn't in effect yet, but it applies to loan applications dated in early 2027, which includes some of this winter's buyers.
Fannie's Selling Guide treats projects with an "Unavailable" status, and projects that need critical repairs such as material deficiencies or significant deferred maintenance, as ineligible. A special assessment alone doesn't disqualify a building. When an assessment pays for safety or structural repairs, though, the repairs must be finished before loans in that project become eligible. Lenders can use HOA minutes, financial statements, and engineers' reports to check for repairs and assessments. If they can't confirm the project is free of critical repairs, the loan can't be sold to Fannie Mae. Freddie Mac now accepts loans in projects with Fannie Mae "Approved" status or a lender-certified Full Review, effective August 3, 2026, subject to its documentation rules.
Buyers can't simply look a building up. Fannie's Condo Status Finder is open to HOAs, managers, and authorized advisors. A "no findings" result doesn't mean the project is approved, and Fannie doesn't share eligibility decisions with other parties. A cash buyer's purchase doesn't depend on a lender accepting the project. A financed buyer's purchase does, and that review happens during underwriting.
Slower doesn't mean structurally worse
On the Sarasota side of the bay, the inspection results so far don't point to failing buildings. Your Observer reported on April 1, 2026 that 198 buildings on Longboat Key required milestone inspections. All of them passed, only two needed Phase 2 inspections, and neither of those led to a permit for structural correction. The same report described sharply higher condo costs and quarterly payments tied to larger reserve funding.
In that reporting, the friction showed up in costs and paperwork. The structures themselves held up.
The market is also picking up. In 2025, Sarasota County condos and townhomes averaged 8.1 months of supply and a median 112 days to sale, compared with 4.7 months and 99 days for houses. By August 2026, condo supply had dropped to 5.2 months. Sellers received a median 91.6% of original list price, up from 88.5% a year earlier. Condo sales grew 13.8% from August 2025, the biggest gain of any segment in the county.
The order of operations for a financed condo buyer
For a financed purchase, the building-level questions come in a rough order:
- Building basics. The building's age, number of habitable stories, and whether a milestone inspection applies.
- Reserve study status. Whether the structural integrity reserve study is finished or the association is combining it with a milestone inspection due by December 31, 2026.
- Budget and reserves. Whether the current budget funds reserves at the levels the study recommends, which both state law and lenders now examine.
- Assessments and repairs. Any special assessment, what it pays for, and whether those repairs are done.
- Lender review. Which review path the lender will use now that Limited Review is gone, and whether the loan's application date falls after January 4, 2027.
- The seven-day window. It starts once the contract is signed and the required documents are delivered.
The documents behind steps one through four exist at the association before any contract is signed. The seven-day window in step six starts only after signing.
A few straight answers
Does a special assessment rule out a conventional loan? Not automatically under Fannie Mae's guidance. When an assessment pays for safety or structural repairs, the repairs have to be finished before loans in the project become eligible.
Is the 15% reserve requirement in effect now? No. It applies to Full Review loan applications dated on or after January 4, 2027.
Are these numbers specific to Siesta Key or downtown Sarasota? No. RASM reports townhouses and condos together for all of Sarasota County, so results at individual buildings and on individual islands will differ.
At Cassidy Calman Gibson, Cassidy works as both a broker associate and a senior loan officer. She can read a building's reserve study, budget, and assessment history alongside your financing before you write an offer. Contact us to have a Sarasota condo you're considering reviewed before your seven-day window begins.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
