I am very much liking what seems to be the new norm, which is a lot of sales activity going on. We had another banner week with a whopping five sales and two new contracts. Our inventory of MLS properties for sale in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-Corridor market stands at 392, up 2 from last week, with 141 houses and 251 lots. In other activity we have fourteen new listings and eight price changes.
Let’s start with the first of our five sales up by the state park at Barrier Dunes where this 3-bedroom, 3 1/2-bath, 1,172-square foot unfurnished townhouse listed for $159,900 sold on Wednesday for $140,000, way below the county’s assessed value of $22,007. This wasn’t sold as a short sale even though it last sold in August 2003 for $185,000.
Our second sale is a lovely bank-owned, 3-bedroom, 2 1/2 bath gulf view home in Seagrass which last sold in mid-2005 for $980,000. This is interesting in that it was listed for $345,000 and sold above list on Monday for $390,000; this typically happens when a property is aggressivley priced to the point where it generates a type of ‘feeding frenzy in the marketplace resulting in multiple offers. This actually happened on two of our sales this week, this one and a gulf front lot we’ll look at in a little while. The county had this one assessed a good bit higher than sale price, having it at $437,101.
Next up is an impressive home in Jubilation on the south side of the Cape listed for $995,000. It’s an exquisitely furnished 5-bedroom, 5 1/2-bath, 3,166-square foot home situated on a generous 1.15 acre gulf front lot. In 2007 it sold for $1,239,800, but the county has already lowered their assessment to $705,047. On Wednesday it sold for near list at $950,000. Jubilation is an upscale development done by the same company who did Ovation, Ashwood Development.
We have new neighbors! This building next door to my office is our fourth sale and it’s another big place, 3,894 square feet to be exact, with five bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths and lots of porches. It’s zoned mixed commercial-residential and previously housed a vacation rental company who lost it to foreclosure. This time around it is going to serve as a private home. The bank had it listed for $395,000 and it sold on Thursday for $380,000, way below its assessed value of $628,234.
Our fifth and final sale is our only lot this week, and this is the one that caused such a frenzy. It’s a 77′ wide gulf front lot in beautiful Sunset Pointe north of Sea Cliffs and Barrier Dunes, which the bank put it up for sale just recently with with list price of just $250,000. This for a lot which sold in 2004 for $836,000. The county has it assessed for about half that, at $462,240, and on Wednesday it sold for about half that value, for $255,700. So we have two sales in one week go for above list.
The first of this week’s two new contracts is a short sale on an attractive 4-bedroom, 4 1/2 bath, 3,789 square foot gulf view home in Seagrass on the Cape listed for $499,900. The sellers paid $385,000 for it in late 2004, and it’s currently assessed at $655,329.
Our other new contract is another short sale house on the Cape, this being one-half of a road-front duplex in Cape Dunes. This is a really cute place inside. It has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, and roughly 1,019 square feet under heat and air. The sellers paid $302,500 for it and have it listed for just $249,000, but even that’s a good bit above the assessed value of $173,700.
Although there are some nice properties among our fourteen new listings, I’m not seeing anything debut in the super value range I like to reserve for my picks of the week, so we’ll pass until next week. Different story with our eight price changes, where I like this combo first tier/gulf front house on the Cape which is reduced from $425,000 to just $399,000. In the spirit of full disclosure this is one of my listings.
This is a 2-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,073 square foot beach bungalow with panoramic views that make you feel as if you’re living in a Florida postcard. The living area is wrapped with windows to showcase the gulf views from every angle. To illustrate what I mean by ‘gulf front/first tier combo’ here is an aerial shot showing the shape of the lot:
Here’s a late afternoon shot from the “front yard”.
That’s a wrap for this week. If you’re interested in finding out more about these or any other property, or if you’re an owner considering selling, give me a call. My cell phone is with me 24/7 so either call me at 850-227-5197 or shoot me an email to [email protected]. My email arrives on my Blackberry imediately whereas Verizon’s voice mail doesn’t always deliver same day service, so if you reach my voice mail and haven’t heard back from me within a reasonable amount of time, please try email. Have a wonderful Easter weekend, and thanks so much for stopping by today.