Maybe it’s all the rain we’ve had, but suddenly buyers are mushrooming all over the place. I feel like I’ve time travelled back to 2004 when it seemed we were cranking out contracts 24/7. This week I’ve had back to back to back appointments for showing property, which is why this is a Sunday rather than a Saturday review. People are definitely in a shopping mood again, and this week we had three sales and a whopping nine new contracts, an all time high since I started this blog two years ago. In other activity we had six new listings and eight sellers trying new price tags (NOTE: I didn’t forget this link – for some reason the MLS is acting up when I try to retrieve it). With all this, our inventory took a healthy dip ending the week at 387, down seven from last week, with 149 homes and 238 lots for sale in the MLS in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 Corridor Market. We’ve got a lot of territory to cover today so let’s get started.
Nice variety in our three sales, with a gulf view home, a gulf front lot, and a pre-construction package on a gulf view house. The only thing they had in common is they’re all located on the Cape.
Let’s start with this bank-owned gulf view home on Cape San Blas Road in Ocean Haven. It’s a 4-bedroom, 3-bath, 2,957 square foot spec home which the developer was never able to find a buyer for after he finished it in 2007, when it came on the market with a list price of $1.25M. The bank foreclosed on it last December and when it went under contract the list price was $499,000. It sold on Wednesday for $470,000, real close to the county’s assessed value of $461,961.
Over in Jubilation on the south side of the Cape somebody got a sweet deal on this 52′ wide gulf front lot listed for $875,000 as a short sale. Jubilation is the first of two premier subdivisions on the Cape done by Ashwood Development of Atlanta and they are first class all the way. This lot last sold back in late 2004 for $1.695M; today the county has it assessed at $330,000. Amazing. Anyway, our savvy investor picked it up on Wednesday for an even $500,000.
No photo for our pre-con sale but it’s in San Dunes subdivision, another nice project with lovely landscaping and finishing touches. According to the MLS, for $444,000 our buyer is going to get a 4-bedroom, 3-bath 2436 square foot home built at the entrance to San Dunes.
Encouraging trend when we look at what buyers are feeding on in our nine new contracts. 2:1 it was land they wanted with six lots and only three homes having brought them to the negotiating table. When we start seeing demand for land again it’s a sure sign we’re on the road to recovery.
We’ll start towards the northern end of the Cape and work our way south. First stop: a bay front beauty 2+ acres and 100′ wide just a bit south of Rish Park with a current list price of $369,000. In February 2005 it sold for $780,000, and just seven months later in September it resold for $1.495M. And what does the county think it’s assessed value is? Try $200,000.
A few blocks south in Ocean Have this 4-bedroom, 5-bath bank-owned gulf view spec home caught somebody’s eye. And why not? At $595,000 it’s priced pretty close to the assessed value of $535,985 so I’m curious to see just how close it comes in at closing. This house was originally listed in January 2007 for $1.25M but had no takers, and finally went to foreclosure last December.
Our third contract was another waterfront, this one on the Gulf on Clearwater Drive in little Dolphin Beach to Bay subdivision. This is a pretty good size lot, measuring 54′ by 512′ or roughly 0.64 acres according to the MLS. It’s been listed since January when it came on the market at $549,000, and it went under contract on Monday listed at $439,000, well above the $330,000 assessment. Hopefully this seller will be ok, having owned it since mid 2002 when he purchased it for $390,000.
On down the road to Antiqua to this 3-bedroom, 2-bath 1290 square foot gulf front “condo” (in name only) which caught someone’s attention with its $259,900 price tag. This is a short sale having last sold in early 2005 for $315,000. The owner put it back on the market just a year later in April ’06 for $485K. Our county’s estimate is $231,195.
Lots, lots, lots – I’m loving this! Next up is a lovely 50′ by 220′ gulf first tier parcel on Rachel Lane which just came on the market last week with a list price of $175,000, well below the assessed value of $227,500. This is a short sale, having last sold in 2004 for $500K. The fact that this went under contract so soon out of the gate at below assessed is worth noting.
All of a sudden Piney Woods subdivision on the south side of the Cape is seeing some action and this week we have yet another new contract there, this time on a 60′ by 100′ first tier setting. There was another lot sold in here just a few weeks ago. I couldn’t locate any pertinent sales history data on this one. The seller listed it in July for $69,000, way below the county’s $100,800, so once again, as we just saw on Rachel Lane, the trick to going under contract quickly seem to be trending towards coming in below where the county has it set.
We’re finally heading off the Cape, taking a right onto C-30 and heading just a couple hundred feet down the road to Curve at the Cape subdivision on the gulf side where FINALLY this 59′ wide gulf front lot listed for only $220,000 is under contract. I cannot believe it has taken someone this long to step up to the plate for this property. I have all but begged a number of people to check out this terrific value. Even the county thinks it’s worth a heck of a lot more – like $356,700. It’s been on the market some time, launching in July last year at $399,000 which, having last sold in mid 2004 for $640,000, explains its short sale status in the MLS. I can’t wait to see what it goes for. Can you say “Comp Killer”?
We’ll cruise about a mile east on C-30 to Money Bayou for our sixth and final lot contract, yet another gulf front, this one with a $329,000 price tag which almost matches the county’s tag of $340K. Hard to believe that as recently as May 2006 the property sold for $987,000. The swiftness of this market correction has just been unimaginable.
We’ve made it to our ninth and final new contract of the week – a short sale on Indian Pass Road in Mystic Palm subdivision listed for $449,900. This is a pretty home with 3 bedrooms and 3 baths and is 2298 square feet, originally listed in October 2006 for $850,000. The county has it valued at $334,857 so let’s see who comes in closer at closing: the listing agent or Kes.
I don’t know about you but I’m wiped out. Twelve properties is plenty to digest in one day so I’m going to save our picks of the week from our new listings and price tags for tomorrow. Be sure to check back. And if you want in on some of this action just let me know. Call me on my cell at 850-227-5197 or shoot me an email to [email protected] . Thanks for hanging in there with me today – hope to see you back tomorrow.