It has been a tumultuous news week, but the headlines didn’t deter buyers, as we had another strong showing, closing six sales and writing three new contracts. We also added eight new listings, and eight price changes. Not much impact on our inventory, though, up by one, closing at 345, with 133 homes and 212 lots in our MLS in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 Corridor markets. Lots to look at today so let’s jump right in.
On to our six sales, the first two of which are adjacent interior lots in Park Pointe subdivision on the north end of the Cape, siding the state park. They have no water view, and both sold on Wednesday for $25,000 each having last sold in 2005 for $449,000 and $379,000 respectively. So lessee . . . 2005, combined value $828,000, 2011 combined value $50,000, or about 6 cents on the dollar. As I said when these two recently went under contract, it’s either carnage or carnival, depending on which side of the table you’re sitting. Unbelievable. The county thought they were each worth $50,000.
Our third sale takes us about 3 miles south to Cape Shoals, where this 2-bedroom, 2 1/2 bath, 926 square foot bank-owned one-half of a duplex listed for $133,000 sold on Thursday for $125,000. That’s not too far off from the $117,551 the county has it assessed for. Built in 1986, it last sold in 1997 for $80,000. Those owners first started trying to sell it nine years later putting it on the market in March 2006 for $565,000.
We’ll head a little over a mile further south for our fourth sale, one we’ve seen on the market for a long, long time waiting for someone to call her home. It’s a lovely 4-bedroom, 4 bath, 2,525 square foot home on 50′ of bay front complete with shared dock on St. Joe Bay and deeded gulf access. The owners built it in 2003 and started trying to sell it shortly after the market tanked in 2005. They eventually lowered the list price to $399,900 as a short sale and that did the trick, selling this week for $385,000, somewhat above the county’s assessed value of $339,925.
This may look like a non-descript lot, but the views from this first tier, quarter-acre, x-zone lot in the micro-subdivision of the Curve at the Cape are awesome. Located on C-30 just a couple hundred yards east of the turn off from Cape San Blas Road, it’s actually a beautiful piece of land with a commanding gulf vista. It last sold in November 2002 for $200,000, and the sellers tried to re-sell it three years later, listing it in late 2005 for $610,000. Unfortunately, there were no takers until they got that list price all the way down to $140,000 which did the trick, and they closed this week for $132,000. Drastic as that may be, that’s still more than twice the county’s assessed value of $60,000., which seems unrealistically low even under current conditions, so I’m not sure what they’re factoring in to arrive at that.
Our sixth and final sale takes us all the way over to near the far end of the Indian Pass peninsula where this 3-bedroom, 1 1/1 bath, 1,578 square foot circa 1980 home on Indian Pass Road sold on Friday for $145,000, not too far off its $157,900 list price. The sellers have owned it since 1992 when they purchased it for just $44,500. My, how times change.
Now for our three new contracts the first of which is my New Listing Pick of the Week from four weeks ago, an outstanding value at Ovation where this awesome 3,100 square foot, 3-bedroom, 3 1/2 bath Florida style home went under contract as a bank-owned listing for an unbelievable price of just $479,900. This home is top-end throughout, with such details as Brazilian teak floors, African granite counter tops, solid pine interior doors, Anderson windows and doors throughout, and custom cabinetry of the finest quality. It’s located on the bay crescent, so the views are magnificent. My buyers are absolutely thilled and anxious to close so they can move right in. Can’t blame them.
More action at Ovation where our second contract is on this first tier beauty under contract as a short sale with a list price of $185,000, having last sold in the summer of ’05 for $775,000. These numbers are just staggering. The county has it valued at $150,000, so it will be interesting to see what it eventually closes for, which may take some time since the bank has final approval on the offer.
Our third and final contract takes us off the Cape and over onto C-30 to Treasure Bay where someone snapped up another terrific short sale value, this one a first tier half-acre bay view lot with a mighty attractive price tag of just $29,900. That’s about 10 cents on the dollar for the $225,000 it sold for in 2004, and just half of the ocunty’s $60,000 assessment. This buyer’s getting a heck of a deal on a terrific building site as Treasure Bay is a nice quiet residential area with attractive homes and deeded bay accesss for all owners. Also, not being on the Cape in the CBRA area, federal flood insurance is available.
I am out of time as I have to show property this afternoon in just a short while – as gorgeous as the weather and gulf are this weekend it hardly seems fair to show people real estate as they just don’t stand a chance! We are having Florida postcard picture-perfect weather right now. Lots going on – great values to be had so if you’re thinking it’s time to make your move, give me a call on my my cell, 850-227-5197 or send me an email to [email protected] . I hope your weekend is good – I appreciate your taking time out of it to stop by here and check out the market.