Hot! Hot! Hot! I’m talking about both the weather and our real estate market this week. The trend of the past couple weeks continues with lots of buyer interest returning. Our inventory is starting to reflect that as well, ending the week down ten from last week, with 401 active MLS listings in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass, and C-30 Corridor market; 161 homes (down five) and 240 lots (also down five). We had one closing, four new contracts, only three new listings, a whopping eighteen price changes, and seventeen expired unsold.
Our solo sale was this handsome 3-bedroom, 3-bath, 2,052 square foot gulf view home on Cape San Blas, about a quarter mile north of Scallop Cove. It has a lovely view of and easy access to the gulf.
According to the county tax records, the sellers bought the undeveloped lot in October 2004 for $265,000, built the house in 2006, and have used it as a rental-income producing property since then. They have had it on the market since March 2007 when they listed it for a seemingly reasonable price, $589,000, but the market just would no longer support that pirice by then, so they have been adjusting the price downward since, finally reaching $464,000 this past February, and three months later on May 19 they went under contract. On Friday they closed for $410,000. According to the MLS notes, the buyers used conventional financing for this purchase.
Just as a side note, here’s some interesting history on the lot this home is situated on. The previous owners bought it in 1991 for $10,000 and sold it thirteen years later for $265,000, a staggering 2,500+% return on investment, or an average 196% annual return!
OK. Back to reality. On to our four new contracts which have much in common in that they are all homes located on Cape San Blas, three short sale single family homes, and one bank-owned, foreclosed condo. That’s a pretty sobering sentence. Such is the nature of our market right now. We’ll start at the north end of the Cape and work our way southward.
The first home is a nice place on Lake Shore Drive at Barrier Dunes. It is a 3-bedroom, 3 1/2 bath, 2,300 square foot house built in 2006, and currently listed for $399,000, but which entered the market last October at $599,000. The sellers purchased the undeveloped lot in March 2005 for $495,000 and then built the home, so this one is going to hurt unfortunately. Since short sales by their very nature have contingencies, we will not know the projected closing date for this or any of our other contracts today. They also typically take a long time to close and tend to have a high mortality rate.
Next stop is this gorgeous 2-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,985 square foot contemporary bay front home located across the street from the Logger Head Grill (formerly Beachcombers Pizza for you old timers out there!). The views from inside this home are spectacular, such as this view from the living area:
The top-end kitchen appliances and overall food prep layout is a fanatical foodie’s dream come true. The sellers purchased the home in October 2005 for $980,000, put it back on the market in June 2007 for $799,000, finally dropping it to its current list price of $499,000 last December.
Just a short walk down Cape San Blas Road from this home to our bank-owned condo in the Dunes Club. This is a 3-bedroom, 2 1/2 bath, 1,176 square foot gulf front unit with an interesting sales history. The property appraiser’s records indicate this unit sold in January 2004 for $325,000, then sold again three months later in April for $415,000 (a 27% jump), then sold again in July 2005 for $595,000, a mind-boggling 83% increase over its original sale price just 19 months prior, or, put another way, an average 52% annual increase. The MLS history notes that after its last sale in July ’05 for $595K, it came back on the market yet again the very next month, August, with a list price of $799,900, or a 34% increase. Anyhow, the clerk of the court gave the certificate of title deed to the bank this past January and it went under contract this week at a list price of $245,025, which is still above the county’s assessed value of $230,344. My head is spinning. Let’s move on.
Just a few short blocks away is this very nice gulf first tier home in the Two Palms subdivision which is a very pretty neighborhood. This is a 3,100 square foot, 4-bedroom, 4 bath home with a far less traumatic history. It last sold in January 2004 for $518,000 and went under contract this week at a list price of $567,000. The county’s assessed value is $468,248, so I’ll be curious to see what it actually sells for.
There was nothing among our three new listings that knocked me out of my chair so we’ll go straight to the eighteen price chages, where my price change pick of the week was an easy choice, with top honors going to this gorgeous gulf first tier 4-bedroom, 4-bath, 3,019 square foot home in Gulf Pines complete with an in-ground pool. The owners are serious about selling and took $100,000 off this week, dropping it to a very attractive $599,000. It’s a lot of house for the money. Check out this view:
Here are the details from the MLS:
Fabulous, custom gulf view home located in Gulf Pines. Features include: standing seam metal roof, additional room used as 5th bedroom, open living plan. Lush landscaping with irrigation, reclaimed heart pine flooring with custom moldings, large decks, covered back porch with outdoor shower. Lockable storage on every level. Stainless steel appliances, custom cabinets with granite counters in the kitchen that is open to dining and living are. Bedroom and bath on living level have cypress ceilings and 8 foot doors. Elevator from covered parking and up to all levels. Main deck is large with seating for 16. 3rd level Master Bedroom has board & batton walls, large windows, covered deck, walk-in closet with built ins, pine flooring. Master bath has jacuzzi tub, his & her vanities and door separating dressing area from shower area. In-ground Pool and fence added in 2008. Covered parking. FEMA flood insurance available.
With so much going on these posts are getting longer each week it seems, and I appreciate your hanging in there to cover all this territory. I’m hearing from many of you and glad you’re finding this info useful. There are good opportunities in the market if you research carefully, as the market has taken back the reins from the speculators and that is a healthy thing. Let me help you locate the right property for you. Call me on my cell at 850-227-5197 or shoot me an email to [email protected] . Thanks so much for stopping by today.