Sarasota doesn’t market itself the way Miami does, and its visitors don’t post the way Miami’s do. The city sits on Florida’s Gulf Coast between Tampa and Naples, with Siesta Key — repeatedly ranked the United States’ best beach by Dr. Beach — as its most-recognizable draw. The vacation-rental market behaves accordingly: steady, year-round, anchored by a snowbird audience that books for weeks at a time rather than weekends.
That’s the setup. The interesting part is what happened to the acquisition side. Florida coastal pricing peaked in mid-2022 and has softened in most submarkets since; Sarasota’s median list price has declined roughly 12% off its peak as of Q4 2025 while county Tourist Development Tax collections (the 6% nightly tax operators remit on every short-term stay) have continued growing year over year. The spread between what a unit costs and what it earns has widened in the buyer’s favor for the first cycle in nearly a decade.
A few specifics worth knowing if you’re considering a stay or considering a property:
- Combined lodging tax: 13% — 6% Florida sales tax + 6% Sarasota County TDT + 1% county discretionary surtax. Operators remit; the visitor pays it as a line item.
- Permitting: The City of Sarasota requires annual vacation-rental registration plus a Business Tax Receipt for any short-term rental. Florida state law preempts categorical STR bans, so operators cannot be zoned-out entirely — but registration and tax remittance are enforceable.
- Best months: February through April for the snowbird premium; June and September are the value windows.
- Neighborhoods worth knowing: Siesta Key for beach access, Lido Key for proximity to St. Armands Circle dining, downtown Sarasota for walkability + the Ringling Museum + the Sarasota Opera House.
Cohost tracks 300+ active short-term rentals in Sarasota with a median nightly rate around $310. Browse the live marketplace below or read our Compliance product overview if you’re a property manager evaluating the lodging-tax recovery side of the business.