Local businesses are having a wonderful Independence Day Weekend as most rental companies have every single one of their properties booked, the bay is filled with boaters and scallopers, and restaurants are serving record numbers. Such a welcome change from last summer. Our real estate is booming, too, with one sale and four new contracts. Unfortunately, our inventory exploded like fireworks, too, adding a record forty-eight new listings, and thirty-four price changes, most of which are Ashwood Development unleashing a new wave of their properties at Ovation and drastically reducing prices on them. That’s just shy of a 10% hike in the inventory, as we end the week up 34, with 117 homes and 278 lots listed in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 Corridor markets. Let’s take a look at what’s selling.
Our single sale was up on the northern end of the Cape in Sunset Pointe where this quarter-acre lot tucked away on the NE corner by the state park went under contract just a couple weeks ago with a list price of just $49,900, essentially the $50K the county has it pegged at. The seller paid $235,000 for it in April 2004 but it wasn’t listed as a short sale. On Thursday it sold for $35,000 cash. That’s a steal. Sunset Pointe is a pretty gated subdivision, very private and secluded, with abundant greenery and wildlife, a community pool, and gorgeous beaches.
Now on to our four new contracts, the first of which is this handsome 3-bedroom, 3- bath, 1, 1484 square foot home on the south end of the Cape, right by the rocks at Stumphole, an area of beach with a historically very high rate of erosion. The sellers have it listed as a short sale for $399,900, having paid $400,000 for the lot alone in August 2008. The county has it assessed for $271,194. Since it’s a short sale it will likely be some time before we know what it actually closes for.
Our second new contract is also on a gulf front home, this one a bank-owned 5-bedroom, 4 1/2 bath, 3,348 square foot beauty listed recently for just $590,000. The previous owner paid $926,500 for the lot alone in January 2007 and never quite finished this house on the inside, so the new owners still have a good bit to do for it to be move-in ready, but it’s on a great stretch of beach, on a 50′ wide lot in an area where FEMA flood insurance is available. If right about now you’re saying to yourself, “Darn, I wish I had made a move on that” you have a second chance as a home in this same stretch with pretty much the same story also came on the market this week, so take a look at it if you’re interested.
Just next door to that is a first tier lot listed for $99,000 which went under contract Monday with no contingencies, cash, scheduled to close by July 9. That list is not too far off the county’s assessed value of $70,000. It’s a quarter acre lot measuring roughly 65′ by 150′.
Our fourth and final new contract is on yet another gulf front property, this one out on Indian Pass. It’s about 0.62 acres, measuring roughly 50′ by 538′ and goes under contract with a list price of $189,899. This one’s history is reflective of just how the market ran up so quickly in the early 2000’s. In July 2000 it sold for $180,000. Then almost exactly three years later in June 2003, it resold for $410,000. Then again, another three years later in July 2006 it sold once again for $959,000. Those were the ones left standing as the music had stopped by then and they haven’t been able to find any buyers to pass it on to until this week. So it looks as if this one will be going for below it’s 2000 value, which, adjusted infor inflation, would probably put it more accurately in the 1997 or 1998 value range.
My Picks of the Weeks for our forty-eight new listings and thirty-four price changes will be all of the great new values on the lots at Ovation the developer has just put out there at deeply discounted prices. You just can’t go wrong. Select your favorite location, let me know and I’ll send you further info. When you’re purusing the new listings you’ll probably be stunned by the four new gulf front lots listed for $115,000 each and wonder why those aren’t a slam dunk choice for Pick of the Week. I’m just very concerned with these lots as they’re in an area of historically high erosion and there have been wetlands issues with this area as well. I would proceed with extreme caution on these and make any offer contingent upon your being able to get county, DEP and Corps of Engineer permits and blessings in hand to build before committing to closing.
That’s it for this week. Let’s go celebrate our independence! I hope you have a terrific holiday weekend with family and friends and enjoy the blessing of living in a free nation. There’s a little grill action on the horizon, good eats and good times. Thanks so much for taking time out of your weekend to stop by for awhile. If you’d like futher info on any area properties, let me know – just call me on my cell at 850-227-5197 or shoot me an email to [email protected] .