Cape San Blas Real Estate Blog

Encouraging news from the Florida Association of Realtors.

  For the first time in almost three years, Florida’s existing home sales rose in September, noting a 24 percent increase in activity in the year-to-year comparison; last month’s sales of existing condos statewide increased 11 percent in the year-to-year comparison, according to the latest housing data released by the Florida Association of Realtors® (FAR).

A total of 10,817 existing homes sold statewide last month, up 24 percent over the 8,725 homes sold in September 2007, according to FAR. The last time Florida Realtors reported higher statewide existing single-family home sales was for year-end 2005, FAR records found. In July of this year, six more homes sold statewide than in July 2007, but that increase was statistically insignificant.

Fourteen of Florida’s metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) reported increased sales of existing homes in September; nine MSAs also showed gains in condo sales, marking the third month in a row that a number of markets have noted higher sales activity.

“The September sales report from the Florida Association of Realtors shows a 24 percent increase in the sales of existing homes in the state; this represents the sixth month in a row that the sales figure has exceeded its 12-month moving average (average of the previous 12 months),” says Dr. Sean Snaith, economist and director of the University of Central Florida Institute for Economic Competitiveness. “This is a clear sign that the significant price declines that have occurred across the state are leading to a more rapid absorption of the housing inventory.”

Snaith noted that September 2007 was a volatile time for the housing industry. “The large percentage increase of sales this September versus September 2007 is inflated by the sharp decline in sales that took place in September 2007,” he explained. “That was the month following the initial wave of global fallout precipitated by the subprime mortgage meltdown that roiled markets in August 2007.”

Florida’s median sales price for existing homes last month was $175,100; a year ago, it was $224,700 for a 22 percent decrease. But, looking back to September 2003, the statewide median sales price for single-family homes was $158,800 - an increase of 10.3 percent over the five-year-period, according to FAR records. The median is the midpoint; half the homes sold for more, half for less.

The national median sales price for existing single-family homes in August 2008 was $201,900, down 9.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the National Association of Realtors® (NAR). In California, the statewide median resales price was $350,140 in August; in Massachusetts, it was $325,000; in Maryland, it was $295,283; and in New York, it was $225,000.

My thanks to FAR for their kind permission to bring you this article.

This morning traffic is flowing freely in both lanes on Cape San Blas Road through Stumphole. The surf has finally quieted back down, and except for the few homes on the southern portion of the Cape which were damaged by the storm, a couple quite severely, life is getting back to normal for most of us.

The only damage I have seen has been in areas where beach renourishment has yet to reach. Some of the worst damage was done to the Sunrise Sunset townhouses; several of the pilings on the northernmost set have slipped and the buildings are sloping downward towards the water.

  Have we reached the bottom of the market yet? This article from the Florida Association of Realtors caught my attention today.

Is this the real estate turnaround?

On the heels of an increase in Florida home sales, a spike in new home sales and an upswing in consumer confidence, traffic to Realtor.com went up significantly in July with month-over-month increases in both traffic (29 percent) and time spent on site (26 percent) on Realtor.com, the official consumer Web site of the National Association of Realtors. Year-over-year page views on Realtor.com and the Move Network increased by 22 percent and 11 percent, respectively, as consumers spent more time searching properties in popular and unexpected metro areas than they did this time last year.

Local markets in July experiencing the largest year-over-year percentage increases in consumer searches on Realtor.com included Stockton-Lodi, Calif. (140.9 percent), Las Vegas, Nev. (93.9 percent), Fort Myers-Cape Coral, Fla. (69.5 percent), Detroit, Mich. (51.8 percent) and Washington, DC-MD-VA-WV, VA (49.1 percent).

Lorna Borenstein, president of Move, Inc., the oversight company for Realtor.com, says that year-over-year traffic on Realtor.com increased by 9.5 percent, despite the fact that traffic within the real estate category declined by 1 percent, and consumers spent 24.7 percent more time in July on Realtor.com than on the next closest competitor.

Realtor.com currently offers potential home buyers access to over four million property listings, as well as the most brokers and agents.

© 2008 FLORIDA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®

After creeping slowly upward for the past several weeks, the real estate inventory of active MLS listings for the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 Corridor market finally showed a nice healthy drop this week, coming in at 455 total, down 27 from last week’s 482, a nice 5.6% decrease. The big change is in the number of lots, now at 271 (vs. 295), largely the result of an entire subdivision’s 26 lots being withdrawn without explanation on Thursday (Red Fish Cove near Spinnaker just outside the state park on the Cape). We have three fewer homes competing against one another, with 184 vs. 187 last week. Fairly quiet week otherwise with just one closing and one new contract, four new listings, eleven price changes and five expired unsold.

Our one sale was a 3-bedroom, 3 1/2 bath interior townhome with no gulf view at Barrier Dunes. Built in 2000, the sellers bought it in late 2004 for $380,000, listed it for sale over a year ago, originally for $374,500, eventually reducing it to $349,000, and it sold on Tuesday for $317,500. They also offered to pay the first year’s flood insurance premium and a $5,000 bonus to the selling office. Not a pretty ride if you’re sitting in the seller’s seat for this one.

  Our one new contract is on this lovely 2-bedroom, 2 1/2/ bath 739 square foot Key West-style home over in Money Bayou we saw deeply discounted several weeks agao. The seller gave $630,000 for it in mid-2005, listed it back in March of this year for $399,900, but dropped it not long thereafter to the unbelievable price of $299,000. There are contingencies to be met so no way of knowing yet when it might close, but this will be an interesting one to watch. I hate to see this happen to anyone.

The one thing in common about our four new listings this week is that every single one of them is listed for well below what the sellers paid for them. There is a gulf-front lot at Sunset Pointe listed for $795,000 for which the sellers paid $841,000; an interior lot at Waters Edge listed for $110,000 for which the sellers paid $186,800; another gulf-front lot just south of Rish Park listed for $999,000 vs. purchase price of $1.125M; and a water view lot in Ocean Haven listed for $475,000 vs. $500,500 purchase price. With the exception of the Waters Edge lot which last changed hands in 2002, all the other last resales were in ‘04 or ‘05.

 My pick of the week from our eleven price changes is without a doubt a bank-owned Indian Pass lagoon front slashed from the already low list price of $99,500 to the give-away price of $50,000 which you can read about in my earlier post. This property last sold in December 2004 for $259,000.  There is already an offer in on it.

That about wraps it up for this week. If you’d like more info on these or any other properties along the Forgotten Coast, please give me a call at 850-227-5197 or shoot me an email to sherri@sherridodsworth.com . I love hearing from my readers.

Spring is the season of renewal and growth and unfortunately that’s exactly what our inventory did this week after holding steady for the past three. It grew nearly 2% with a total of 466 (up from 458), with 174 houses (vs. 171) and 292 lots (vs. 287).  There was a fair amount of activity; no sales, but we do have three new contracts, thirteen new listings, thirteen new price tags, and five expired unsold.

So what’s selling? Our three new contracts were on two houses on Cape San Blas and the gulf front lot on Indian Pass that was reduced to $335,000 which I sent out an e-blast about last week.

Some savvy hombre celebrated Cinco de Mayo on Monday by putting a contract on this 3-bedroom, 3-bath gulf-view home on Polaris Lane .  Built in 2002, its list price is $399,000 even though the sellers paid $569,000 for it in June 2005. Ouch. Somebody’s going to get a good deal here, just not the Sellers. Sounds like there might be an ARM about to mature next month.  Curious to see what it actually closes for.

Our second home under contract this week is this 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 1700 square foot gulf front home in Beach to Bay subdivision on the Cape with a list price of $1,079,000.  The Sellers gave $710,000 for it in early 2003 so they should be ok. That was well before the market peak in late 2004.

Our third contract was on this gulf front lot on Indian Pass and someone is definitely getting a good deal on this.  The seller has been trying to sell this lot since January 2006 when he listed it for $1.285M. No takers, so in February 2007 he slashed the price drastically to $695K thinking no doubt surely that would entice someone to step up to the plate.  Nope. He waits seven months more and still no takers, so he goes firesale deep to $450,000. Still nothing. At the end of April he goes to $330K, gets a flurry of offers but no contract, so on Tuesday he jacked the price back up to $375,500 and goes under contract two days later. Go figure. Can’t wait to see what it actually closes for. He paid $150,000 for it in 1999 so he can still more than double his ROI.

Are there any comparable deals within our thirteen price changes? You bet.

If it’s gulf front you want you can’t go wrong with this lot on Canoe Lane which was $675K and now only $435K.  It’s 75′ wide, not in the CBRA zone so FEMA flood insurance will be available when you build, and it sits well off the highway.

  If you’re more a bay person than gulf, here’s one for you. That bay front home with a dock in Peninsula Estates which was listed only a few weeks ago this week changed the price from $650K to only $575K which is like buying a bay front lot and having the house thrown in for free. If you recall this is a 100′ wide lot with a firm sandy beach. Should sell quickly at this price.

  If you’re into bay front living but would like a bit more room and a few more frills, check out this 3,376 square foot, 4-bedroom, 3-bath beauty with lots of extras, including a brand new in-ground pool, dock with 2 boat lifts, detached garage, fireplace and more.  Here’s the description from the MLS:

Beautiful bay front home with private boat dock including two boat lifts and a private inground screen-enclosed swimming pool. The spacious open floor plan features a large, entertainer kitchen and large living room and dining room. There is a full apartment on the lower level with full kitchen, living room, bedroom and bath and private entrance. The sunrise view from the porch was recently featured in Atlantic Southeast Airlines travel magazine. The decks, porches and views galore make this a truly special home.

I’m very familiar with this beautiful home and if you love to entertain and relax in style and comfort, this is one you won’t want to miss.  

That about does it for this week. Prices are getting back into the truly attractive range with more and more really good buying opportunities.  If you’d like info on these or any other properties, give me a call at 850-227-7891 or shoot me an e-mail to sherri@sherridodsworth.com.  Thanks for stopping by today.

 We finally have a healthy 5% drop in our inventory size this week after several weeks with little or no change. We end the week with a total of 457 lots and homes listed for sale in the MLS for the Cape, Indian Pass and C-30 corridor market, down from last week’s 480, with a 6% drop in homes, 170 vs. 181,  and with 287 lots, down from 299.  Sure would be nice if that reduction was the result of some 20+ sales, but sadly, no. Let’s take a look at what did happen since last Saturday.

No closings this week, but we did have three new contracts. Ten new listings joined the fray, twenty-one expired unsold, and nine sellers tried dropping their prices  to truly tempting new lows.

Let’s take a look at our three new contracts. Two are adjacent 50′ wide gulf front lots on Indian Pass listed for $400k each. There are contingencies to be met so we don’t know the proposed closing date yet.

 The third contract was on a gorgeous gulf front home on Haven Road on the Cape listed for $1.95M since November. According to the MLS data it’s scheduled for a quick close by April 18, so sounds as if it’s a cash deal. This will be interesting to watch to see how close to list the sellers get with this one as we need some good, current comps for the Cape.

Time for some bargain hunting to see if there’s anything truly tempting in this week’s nine price changes and the answer is a resounding yes. It’s as if we’re having an end-of-season clearance sale with prices slashed to bargain basement lows.

 Remember our bayfront house at Old Saltworks that we’ve seen several price cuts on recently? Well, they’re back again this week down another 100 grand to $499,000! This originally came on the market in late 2006 at $1.25M! This is priced below comps even for the lot alone so somebody needs to step up and grab this great deal.

Seems our Sellers are getting very, very serious about moving some properties if the price reductions this week are any indication. When was the last time you saw a 116′ wide gulf front lot for only $399,000?

And take a look at these two lots in Ovation which the Seller has dropped from $355k to $250k and from $450k to $285k - and get this: in October 2005 he paid $355k and $455k for them respectively.

Those are my picks of the week. Time to start padding your portfolios with some of these offerings. If you’d like more info on these properties or want to find out what else is available, call me at 850-227-5197 or shoot me an e-mail to sherri@sherridodsworth.com . Thanks for checking out my blog today - stop back soon.

 As veteran slugger and baseball philosopher Yogi Berra once said, this week it’s “deja vu all over again”. For the thrid week in a row our inventory remains steady at 480, with a few more homes (181 vs. 178) and a few fewer lots (299 vs. 302).  Just like last week, too, we had two new sales but no new contracts. Eight new listings joined the mix, nine expired unsold, and only six sellers tried tweaking their prices to stir up some action. As always, we’ll start by taking a look at what people bought this week.

Both closings were on Tuesday, one a gulf-front, end-unit townhome at Sunrise Sunset on the Cape, and the other a single family home in Indian Pass.

The 1500 square foot, 3-bedroom, 2-bath townhome was listed on February 7 for $350,000 and went under contract almost immediately, closing on Tuesday for 87% of list at $305,000.  The Sellers bought the place in September 2001 for $189,000, so the’y're looking at a nice 60% return on investment. I just love a story with a happy ending.

But what about our Indian Pass sale? Any smiley faces there? This was a 1300 square foot, 4-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath home built in 1991 which was listed in November for $479,000. The Sellers bought it in September of 2004 for, ouch, $550,000 so they took a pretty good hit since it closed at $459,000 for about a 16% loss. Not good.

Anything tasty in this week’s price changes?  My pick of the week would have to be this 8% price reduction on this 2- bedroom, 2 1/2 bath end unit townhome in Barrier Dunes which was dropped from $379,000 to $349,000. Is this the lowest price in Barrier Dunes? No, but it is the lowest price unit there located in the coveted “X” flood zone so that you can finance this without having to carry private flood. Huge savings right off the bat. Here’s a view from the deck off of the living area:

That’s like sitting in a Florida post card right on your own private deck. Throw in a respectable rental history ($10K+ in 2007) and we’re talking total package. This should move quickly at this price with everything it has going for it.

That about wraps it up for this week’s review. As always, if you’d like additional info on these or any other properties, or if you’d like to know what your own property might bring in the current market, shoot me an e-mail to sherri@sherridodsworth.com or give me a call at 850-227-5197. Thanks for stopping by today

Spring arrived right on schedule this week with warm, breezy days and clear blue skies. The azaleas and wisteria are in full blloom, and even the crepe myrtle are starting to show signs of color. Let’s take a look to see if there were any signs of new life in our real estate market.

Here’s a first: our inventory remains unchanged at a total of 480 active listings in the MLS, with 178 homes and 302 lots, same as last week. Even so, we had 21 listings expire unsold, 9 were put back on the market, 2 were withdrawn, 11 new listings were addded, 2 sold (yea!) and 9 changed their prices. Funny how the inventory numbers worked out.

 I always like to start with dessert, so we’ll begin by taking a look at our two sales, both single family homes in Indian Pass.

The first sale was this 1475 square foot, 2-bedroom, 1-bath home on a 0.18 acre lot Seminole Street in Indian Pass that went under contract two weeks ago on the first of March. Listed in November for $365,000, the Seller got full price, cash, on Monday. That’s the kind of wearin’ of the green on St. Patrick’s Day I could really get into! Here’s a detailed description of the home:

(Enjoy) sitting on the expansive screened-in front porch overlooking Indian Pass Beach and St. Vincents Island in this first tier beach cottage. Completely remodeled with granite kitchen, KitchenAid stainless appliances, tile floor, new carpet in bedrooms. Excellent rental history inluding 3 websites. Home is situated on an ‘X’ flood zone and qualifies for FEMA flood insurance.

 Our second sale of the week, this gulf-front home near Indian Summer, isn’t as pretty. The Seller, who is also the builder, originally put this home on the market back in May of 2006 for $1.495M. After five price reductions down to $999,999, it finally closed on Friday for $875,000, or just 58% of the original asking price. The contract price of $875k turned this into a short sale which was approved by the lender and allowed to close. Sometimes it’s simply best to cut your losses and move on.

We had nine listings change their prices this week, but six of those were price increases. Talk about contrarian pricing. Of our three price reductions, one clearly stands out above the others, as it’s the bay-front house with a dock that we saw reduced two weeks ago to $699,000, and they have dropped the price again this week another hundred grand down to $599,000!

  In case you missed it last time, here’s the Seller’s description:

Nice 2 bedroom, 2 bath Bay front home. 100 ft. Bay Front, dock and plenty of screened porches to enjoy the views of St. Joe Bay and the cool breezes. Large great room and dining area. Complete kitchen with all the extras. Pantry and separate laundy room. Double doors in great room and bedroom lead to huge screened porch. Approx. 1.25 Acres of beautiful old Flordia. Secluded site. A great rental. Some owner financing available.

These people are begging you to make them an offer, so call me. My cell is 850-227-5197 and my email is sherri@sherridodsworth.com .

That about does it for this week.  I hope you have a wonderful Easter weekend, and I appreciate your stopping by today.

 Beware the Ides of March. This week’s market meltdown on Wall Street, especially Friday’s free fall of Bear Sterns, has been a sobering experience and will, I fear, not bode well for our local struggling real estate market as investors and families alike are likely to turn to cash positions until there is some clear indication of just how bad this is going to get. Even though we had two sales this week, there were no new contracts, and a 4.35% increase in inventory, which means at that rate we’re sitting on 4 1/2 years worth of inventory. There are now 480 active listings in the MLS, up from 460 last week, with 178 homes (vs. 167) and 302 lots (vs. 293).

Let’s take a look at what sold. Both our sales were single family homes, one a brand new road-front home in the San Dunes subdivision on the Cape, and the other a 26-year-old gulf front home in Gulf Pines along C-30.

 The home in San Dunes is a beautiful place, built in 2006 and on the market ever since, never occupied, and sold by the builder/developer. With a final list price of $525,000 and a sale price of $500,000, he got 95% of current list which is not bad, but only 85% of his original list price of $588,000.

 It’s our second sale this week which is going to blow your mind. Some savvy buyer just snapped up a gulf-front home in Gulf Pines for, get this, only $580,000! Whoa. This comp is going to haunt us for some time. Even though the MLS notes that the buyer paid the closing costs and there was deferred maintenance (no details as to what extent) still, this is a 100-foot-wide, half-acre gulf front lot in a very nice subdivision. $5800 a waterfront foot alone is an amazing price; it’s like getting the house thrown in for free.  (You gulf-front owners out there are excused to go fix yourself a steadying adult beverage about now.  I feel your pain). As for you buyers, this should be your wake-up call to step up to the plate and get yourself some seriously good coastal gems. One man’s pain is another man’s gain.

To see what kind of bargains are out there this week let’s look first in the new listings, and there’s a slew of them, 26 in all. 

 My pick of the week is a short sale on a first tier home in Money Bayou that really gets my attention, as it’s listed for only $399,900 even though the buyer paid $630,000 for it back in July of 2005. Similar homes on that same street are in the $480K to $530K price range.  Also, take a look at this lot in Ovation - that’s a great project and the bay access, gulf & bay club houses and tennis courts alone almost justify purchasing a lot just for these privileges. The Seller’s listing it for what he paid for it in September ‘05.

Only seven price changes this week, mostly modest, with no drastic slashing.

That about wraps it up for another week. I hope the coming week is kind to your wallet and brings us signs that we may have weathered the worst. If you’d like additonal info on these or other properties, feel free to shoot me an e-mail to sherri@sherrridodsworth.com or call me on my cell at 850-227-5197. Thanks for stopping by.

CONGRATULATIONS - YOU DID IT!  Thanks to your avalanche of emails and phone calls to commissioners yesterday, what looked like a done deal on Tuesday went down in defeat Thursday when the board voted 4 to 1 to deny Ashwood Development’s request to add nearly 100 lots to Ovation for construction of duplexes.

Commissioner Jerry Barnes said in all his time on the board no issue has ever elicited this type of response - by last night he had had received over 150 calls, and they were still pouring in this morning. Commissioner Bill Williams had pretty much the same experience.

Thank you so much for taking the time to get involved - you made a difference, and our Cape is so much the better for it.

Here is a detailed account of what transpired at the meeting:

County Commissioners Veto Ovation’s Density Increase
Marie Logan - 2008-02-28 12:15:00

Faced with a packed meeting room Thursday morning, the Gulf County Commissioners voted 4-1 to deny a density increase to the developer of Ovations subdivision on St. Joseph Peninsula.

Voting to deny the request were Commissioners Bill Williams, Nathan Peters, Jerry Barnes and Carmen McLemore. Voting for the density change was commission chair Billy Traylor.

During Tuesday night’s regular county commission meeting, commissioners scheduled the Thursday morning meeting because they could not come to a decision on the density issue for the development.

At Tuesday night’s meeting, William Harrison, attorney for the Ashwood Development Company out of Atlanta, asked the board to increase the density of the project by adding the acreage of the submerged lands attached to the development to the total acreage in the project to obtain the necessary amount of buildable land in order to affect the change.

It was pointed out Tuesday night and again this morning that the submerged lands had already been figured into the original equation when the Ovations project was approved by the board in 2005.

Numerous people addressed the board, expressing opposition or approval of the density change. While everyone was cordial, feelings obviously ran high on both sides.

Primary objections cited to the increased density in the development included:

• increased problems for an already overtaxed local volunteer fire department;
• non-notification to property owners in and around the development of the proposed changes;
• radical changes to the original development plans, which property owners had not agreed to;
• violation of the county comprehensive land use plan, which could open the door for more requests to change the plan;
• punitive action against the county by the state Department of Community Affairs, which regulates the comprehensive plan;
• judgment against the county by the state Department of Environmental Protection regarding the upcoming decision to move the 30-year erosion line on the Peninsula;
• setting a dangerous precedent for uncontrolled growth in south Gulf County;

Those in favor talked about the critical economic situation in Gulf County and argued that the work generated by the density increase would provide immediate relief in the form of construction jobs.

Although the developer promised to use local labor and local materials in building more houses in the development, he said he could not guarantee that local materials and labor would be used because of “time constraints and quality control.”