Established Neighborhood vs. New Home Subdivision?

I will begin by saying that the motivation of property sellers will ultimately determine the deal you can get.

While the real estate market in Manatee and Sarasota Counties are forecast to remain soft for a while longer the unit sales are the highest they have been in three years.

The absorption rate of homes with price points between 700k and 1.5 mil is at a three year high of 4.6% (6% being a normal market)  so wile the prices are slowly dropping when the inventory hits an equilibrium the prices will begin to rise, I am not an economist but I can tell you from experience that when this occurs the demand makes a quick and steep spike for a short time.

As for the difference in existing Bradenton neighborhoods vs. a new home community it should be broken into two comparable's, first being your long term plan for the home and the actual sales factors.

First your long term plan will impact my opinion, for example if you will be selling the home once your child in finished school or you will use it as a vacation or second home or you decide to lease the property and how long you plan on keeping the property will have a great effect due to the fact that they will be building in the new home community for years to come and a private home seller cannot compete with the builders when ot comes to pricing in a still growing development.

An established neighborhood on the other hand is built out and the market is solely dictated by other sellers not a builder that has more incentives or incitements to offer a buyer so pricing historically remains higher, it's simple supply and demand.

If your plan is to hold the property for lets speculate 15 years then the new home community my be the better option due to the "newness" factor and people wanting the next best thing.

My personal opinion is that existing community is the better 15 year option due to price point and the fact that there are no builders to compete with only other homes.  So ask yourself the following few questions when shopping for your next home

1. What are your long term plans for a home in Manatee County?

2. What position will I be in if the market stays the same?

3. Is the premium for "newness" worth the risk?