Well, the world didn’t end this week as everyone predicted, so if Wall Street is still alive I guess there’s hope for real estate, too. Aother nice drop in our inventory this week, down 10 to 388 with nine fewer homes (160 vs. 169) and one fewer lot (228 vs. 229). Despite all the doom and gloom from the media, we managed to eke out one closing and one new contract. Much of the inventory reduction is from expireds not relisting; we had 23 expireds in all, only one new listing and nine price changes.
The house at Seagrass that went under contract back on September 11 closed on Wednesday after having been on the market 524 days. The sellers bought the home in May 2005 for $1.1M and put it on the market in April 2007 for $1,199,000. Since then they have repeatedly dropped the price, finally ending up at $699,000 in August, which was all it took to get a buyer to step up the plate with an offer. The buyers were able to get a contract for $625,000 plus agreeing to pay one half of the cost of the doc stamps and $8400 of the sellers’closing costs.
Our new contract is on a lovely gulf first tier home located in the Two Palms subdivision on Cape San Blas. The sellers have had it on the market since December 2005 when they listed it for $1.16M. Like our sellers above, they, too, have been tweaking the asking price downward ever since to a final list price of $749,900. These sellers should fare a little better, though, as they purchased the undeveloped lot in early 2000 for $68,500 and then built the home, so depending on what the actual contract price is and provided they haven’t used it as an ATM, they should come out ok.
Our solitary new listing is on a home in Sea Grass where our one sale was this week, but since no photos have been posted of it yet I’m going to include it in next week’s new listings so you can have a better idea of what the place is actually like.
My pick of the week from among the nine price changes is this bay front house just a little south of the entrance to the State Park. The sellers have been trying to sell since May 2006 when they listed it for $1.2M. They’re been lowering the price since then and this week dropped it to $799,000. This is a beautiful secluded setting, very peaceful and private, with 100 feet of bayfront. There are lots of little extras to like with this home, one of my favorite of which is the bay front pool. Check out this view from one of the decks:
That wraps it up for this week’s review. Give me a call toll free to 877-512-9366 ext. 109 or shoot me an email to [email protected] if you’d like further info on these or any other properties. If you’re considering selling, ask me for a property pricing report. Have a great week.