Along the gulf coast of Florida, situated in both Sarasota and Manatee County, the community of Lakewood Ranch is bucking the country's downward pattern in home sales. While the rest of the nation seems to be suffering, Lakewood Ranch, an 8,500 acre master-planned community, has already sold more than 170 houses this year. As the president of Lakewood Ranch Commercial Realty Brian Kennelly recently stated, "Lakewood Ranch is without a doubt the growth corridor in the region and the state right now."

Additionally, the overall Sarasota real estate market is also picking up. Overall homes sales are up just over 4% for the year and the Sarasota Association of Realtors reports that they just experienced their 2nd best volume of sales in the past six years.

Having said that, the thing to remember about all these stats which have been emerging these days regarding the Lakewood Ranch and Sarasota areas is that they are specifically speaking about the volume of sales or transactions, NOT the price of the homes. Even though there is certainly data to suggest that Lakewood Ranch home prices are on the rise again they still remain very low.

There are a number of reasons why home prices are low. One, there is still a reasonable amount of concern about the housing market nationally and the national economy seems to have stalled yet again. Also, it still is more complicated to secure a loan nowadays than it was prior to the housing collapse. As a result, despite the fact that homes are more affordable now than they have been in many years, people are still often unwilling to buy a home and people who wish to purchase a home might not have an easy time obtaining a loan. This, in turn, has kept prices low even in an area that generally seems to booming.

Fortunately, this produces a market that is perfect for real estate investors. First of all, the fact that the nation's economy is still at a standstill is keeping interest rates really low making purchasing a home much more affordable. And, here's the important part…the fact that home loans are hard to acquire combined with the hesitancy of people to buy a home has created a red hot market for rentals in Lakewood Ranch.

Lakewood Ranch rentals most often have various offers the very day they come on the market. With rents in Lakewood Ranch averaging $1/sq. ft. you should have a positive income almost immediately. Not just that, but rent prices have actually gone up within the last year or so. In fact, there is no doubt that the landlords are 100% sitting in the driver's seat in Lakewood Ranch.

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Want to learn how you can save even more money investing in Lakewood Ranch Real Estate? Call Tanya Waxler, Florida Licensed Broker and Owner of uKeepCommission Real Estate at 941-465-9207.