We welcomed the arrival of autumn this week and look forward to a little cooler weather as it has been another hot, summery week, though thankfully sunny again after all the drenching rains of late. The market hasn’t cooled off yet, either, as we managed to have another three closings and three new contracts. In other activity we have nine new listings and eleven new price tags. Our inventory is still hovering around the 400 mark, closing up four from last week with 403 active MLS listings in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 Corridor market, with 143 homes, and 260 lots.
All three of our sales were homes, two gulf front and one bay view. Let’s start on the Cape with the first gulf front home which is in Secluded Dunes, the northernmost subdivsion in the Cape peninsula, adjacent to the state park.
This is a bank-owned 3-bedroom, 3-bath, 2,700 square foot home built in 1990 and situated on a spacious 112′ wide gulf front lot. The previous owners gave a warranty deed to the bank in September 2006 with a recorded value on the property appraiser’s records of $1,695,700, after which the bank put it on the market for $1.048M two months later. By the time it went under contract several weeks ago, that list price was down to $699,000. On Friday it sold for an even $600,000, way below the county’s assessed value of $999,599.
This is a bank-owned 4-bedroom, 3 1/2-bath, 2,200 square foot fixer upper situated on a 50′ wide gulf front lot not far from Scallop Cove which came on the market just this month on the 6th for a mind-popping price of $225,000, well below the county’s assessed value of $247,630. Not surprisingly it went under contract almost immediately, and the parties closed on Thursday for the full list of $225,000. These buyers pounced on this as it showed up in the MLS late in the afternoon and by morning was under contract. The bank took quite a hit on it as it last sold in May 2005 for $1.15M.
Our second sale is a bay view home over in Simmons Bayou right near Presnell’s Boat Launch. The building used to be on the bay side of the street and served as the offices for Newman Construction until it was sold and moved to its current location about four years ago. Unfortuantely, those owners had it foreclosed on. This 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,620 square foot home was recently renovated and sold on Thursday for full list price of $199,000, a good bit above the assessed value of $110,431.
The first of our three new contracts is on this 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 2,000 square foot roadfront home on Cape San Blas Road with terrific views throughout of both the gulf and the bay. With a list price of $299,900, it is a lot of house for the money. There are decks on both living levels which completley encircle the home so you can always sit right where the breeze is coolest and enjoy those views. This house was also moved just a few years ago, having previously been located on the gulf where Turtle Dunes subdivision is now. The assessed value of $294,447 is real close to its list price. The contract has contingencies to be met so no indication as to when it may close.
Our second new contract has no such contingencies and is slated to close next week on the 30th. Sounds like a cash deal to me. It’s an interior 2-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,364 square foot townhouse up at Barrier Dunes listed just this week for $248,000, not too far above the assessed value of $214,573. The property appraiser’s office has been busily adjusting values downward to better reflect the current market; this one last sold in May 2006 for $325,000 so it has come down quite a bit.
Our third and final new contract is on a comfy country cottage along the C-30 Corridor which went under contract on Friday with a list price of $215,000, below the $220,000 it sold for in 2003, but still above the county’s assessment of $185,815. It is a 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,152 home with lots of custom cabinetry and paneling throughout nestled on a quiet woodsy lot in Treasure Bay, not far from the turn off onto Cape San Blas Road. There are no contingencies to be met and the projected closing date is mid November.
My Pick of the Week from this week’s crop of new listings is a first-tier gulf-view home in Peninsula Estates, less than a mile south of the state park. In the spirit of full disclosure, this is my listing. It’s a 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,058 square foot home with awesome gulf views and deeded gulf and bay access. You can stow your lawn mower as the landscaping is natural xeriscaping. A short sale listing at $299,000, it is the lowest priced first tier single family home on the Cape currently listed for sale. I have had a lot of agents showing interest in this listing in the past few days.
My Pick of the Week from our eleven price changes is this bank-owned interior lot up in the gated Sunset Pointe sudivision by the state park which goes from $69,000 down to $46,900, giving it the distinction of becoming the lowest-priced property in our inventory of 403 listings. It’s also only about 60% of the county’s assessed value of $78,500. You’d basically be getting this lot for 10 cents on the dollar with it having last sold in the summer of ’05 for $440,000. Here’s an aerial showing its location which is only a short stroll to the beach:
Thanks for taking time to stop by today and check out what’s going on around here. My sense is that we’ve weathered the worst and the market is bouncing off the bottom as we’re seeing such an increase in (as in some return of) interested buyers. I’m also encouraged by the fact that the buyers I’m seeing (can’t speak for all my colleagues) aren’t just speculators which was what fueled this problem in the first place, but people purchasing for the right reasons, i.e. long-term investments, not just to flip. If you’re interested in selling or buying, please give me a call either at my office, 850-227-7891, on my cell, 850-227-5197, or shoot me an email to [email protected] . Have a great weekend.