State of the Market - 2nd Quarter 2020

The Greater Sarasota commercial real estate market ends the first half of this year in a holding pattern, the result of the coronavirus. Both 2019 and 2020 were historic years in terms of activity, as businesses expanded and capital looked for quality, long-term investments. All that exploration largely stopped in mid-March, though, with quarantines brought about by the virus pandemic. Fortunately, many properties that were under contract prior to COVID-19 closed as scheduled, but very few new contracts were subsequently inked. The leasing market was hit even harder than the investment side of the business, as businesses stopped thinking about leasing and tenants struggled with a drop in revenue and anxiety over what the future holds. As we move out of the catastrophe, we at Harshman & Co. believe business will pick up and start moving again. The fundamentals that have made Sarasota such an excellent commercial real estate investment market have not changed and those same fundamentals will springboard our market into an even stronger future.