I’m seeing growing indications that we may have turned the corner here as sales activity continues at a brisk clip and our inventory is dropping by gulps instead of nibbles. We had yet another busy week with three closings and six new contracts, only eight new listings and seven price changes. The inventory ends the week down twelve, to 346, with 128 homes and 218 lots listed for sale in the MLS for the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and the C-30 Corridor market. We have a lot of territory to cover so let’s get started.
All three of our sales are on the Cape, starting with this gulf view 2-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath townhouse in Barrier Dunes on Sabal Drive. The sellers paid $177,000 for it in late 2004, put a lot of work into it and put it back on the market in October 2005 with a list price of $515,000. It wasn’t until they recently got that asking price down to $249,900 that they were able to attract a buyer, and on Monday they closed for $230,000, just a bit above the county’s assessment of $195,352.
Our second sale takes us about three miles southward to Seagrass where this first tier bank-owned lot with a list price of $214,000 elicited numerous offers and the lucky winner of that competition picked up the title to it this week for an-above list price of $225,000. That’s pretty good considering it last sold in early 2005 for $875,000. There is considerable debate as to the buildability of the gulf front lots here so I’m assuming the thinking is that even though it is technically a first tier lot, it may in fact not have a high likelihood of having a home built in front of it any time soon.
Our third and final sale is another comp killer, this one a steal-of-a-deal on the south side of the Cape at Dunes Club, where this bank-owned 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,176 square foot gulf front condo listed for $185,000 sold on Wednesday for $177,500 cash, about 20% below the county’s assessed value of $218,892. This condo last sold in 2004, the year it was built, first in January for $340,000, then again in November for $438,800. Hard to believe that 30% annual appreciation seemed normal at that time but it wasn’t unusual.
The first of our six new contracts finds us back up at Barrier Dunes again but this one with a twist, in that it is one of just a very few detached, single family homes there and a spacious one at that. It’s a 4-bedroom, 4-bath, 2,400 square foot model which recently entered the market with an agressively priced list of $359,900 which was pounced on almost immediately. That price is almost on the money for the county’s assessed value of $354,835. The developer put it on the market in late 2004 for $949,500.
Our second new contract is on another aggressively priced home, this one a gulf front 3-bedroom, 4 1/2 bath, 1,980 square foot beach home on Dominican Drive not far from The Tradin’ Post. The lot alone sold for $510,000 in September 2001, and after the house was built it went on the market in mid-2005 sporting a $1.189M price tag. That was then and this is now, and it went under contract this week with a much humbler asking price of just $429,000 which, while low, is still well above the county’s current assessment of $376,164. This is a great little beach house in good shape, well decorated, and should be quite a coup for this lucky buyer.
A little bit further south on Cabo San Lucas is our third new contract, another gulf front, this one a 5-bedroom, 5-bath, 2,659 square foot lovely listed for $699,000. This beautifully appointed home has been on the market since April when the sellers listed it for $799,000. For the quality of this home and location, I think the county’s a bit low on its assessment having it pegged at just $492,096.
Our fourth new contract is on a perrenial favorite, a bay-front home just a few hundred feet north of Scallop Cove that has been on the market for several years now. It’s a terrific home with 4 bedrooms and 4 baths, 2,525 square feet of living space plus two over-sized screened porches overlooking St. Joe Bay, and even includes a shared dock on the bay and deeded gulf access. It has so much going for it I’m just not sure why it hasn’t been able to attract a buyer in all this time until now. It’s listed as a short sale at $411,000, above the county’s assessment of $343,295 but well below its 2008 list price of $699,999.
Buyers were all about water front this week, and our fifth contract is no exception, this one almost next door to the last, one of 6 bay front cottages tucked directly behind Scallop Cove. It’s a 2-bedroom, 1-bath, 585 square foot bungalow on the bay with a list price of just $199,000. The county has this one way low at $119,755, which I’m sure the seller likes for tax purposes, but it seems totally out of touch with actual market value. The cottage was built in the ’80s and totally renovated down to the studs in 2003 with new metal roof, tile floors, all new cabinets including sleek granite counters and all new appliances . This is a cash deal with no contingencies so it should close fairly quickly.
Our sixth and final new contract is also waterfront, this one a lagoon front home out on C-30 just a bit east of the Indian Pass Raw Bar. I have featured this pretty little private home before as a Price Change Pick of the Week, and it went under contract this week as a short sale with a newly reduced list price of just $110,000. It’s a 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,200 square foot home with gleaming hardwood floors and a bright and sunny open setting. The sellers bought it in late 2008 for $425,000. I don’t understand why the county has this one assessed for $275,704 and the gulf front condo at just $218,892.
It’s late Sunday so with there being so few new listings and price changes and I am not going with Picks of the Week today. I think you can see from the properties we reviewed today that terrific values are here to be had for buyers ready to move and sellers willing to price within the current market parameters. Demand is definitely on the rise – my apppointment book of scheduled closings and property showings will attest to that! If you’ve been sitting on the sidelines wondering where the market bottom is, you may want to consider suiting up and getting in the game by giving me a call at 850-227-5197 or shooting me an email to [email protected] . I’ll be glad to help you find your perfect beach retreat on the Forgotten Coast. Thanks so much for stopping by this afternoon.