I’m hoping what we’ve been seeing here the past few weeks might be the new normal as our recent trend of banner weeks continues with our best week of all. We closed six sales and wrote four new contracts, added only four new listings and made eight price changes. Even so, we end the week up one from last week, closing out at 386, with 116 homes and 270 lots listed for sale in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 Corridor market. Let’s take a look at what caught buyers’ attention.
We’ll start our review of the six sales up on the north end of the Cape at Barrier Dunes. This sale’s a happy one, as the sellers bought it in December 2009 for $265,000 so they would have their own place to spend more time here and to share with family and friends. They ended up spending so much time here they decided to move here permanantly, bought a steal-of-a-deal on a gorgeous bank-owned gulf front home and put this one back on the market. It’s a terrific 3-bedroom, 3-bath, 1,364 square foot lake-front Key West style cottage, one of only a handful at Barrier Dunes, built in 1993. It was reasonably listed for $265,000, and unreasonably assessed by the county for $197,591. On Monday it sold for a very attractive $240,000.
Our second sale was also at Barrier Dunes, just around the corner. Someone picked up a great deal on this lake front 3-bedroom, 3-bath, 1,172 square foot townhouse with a list price of $179,500 that they got on Friday for just $135,000. Sweet!. That’s well below the county’s assessed value of $162,131, and way below the $210,000 the seller paid for it in early 2003. Even so, this wasn’t a short sale; just a seller dealing with the reality of the market being what it is.
We’ll travel about two miles south on the Cape to Catamaran Drive right around the Cape Tradin’ Post for our next two sales, the first of which is a 101′ by 143′ one-third acre first tier lot listed for $120,000 which sold on Thursday for $110,000. Both of these lots are pending a minor replat as they are being carved from a gulf to road-front single parent parcel. The second of these lots was a 101′ by 143′ third-acre lot road front lot listed for $40,000 and it sold on Thursday for just that. Both of these properties are in “X” zones adding to their value.
So many good deals were snapped up this week, and our fifth sale is no exception. We’ll head over to Indian Pass to this 50′ wide gulf front lot, listed for $180,900, which sold for $180,000 on Wednesday. The MLS didn’t list this as a short sale which is interesting as the seller paid $959,000 for it in January 2006. Here’s another one of those sales which perfectly illustrate the nature of the real estate bubble from which we’re recovering. This lot sold in 2000 for $180,000, then again in mid-2003 for $410,000, and finally to our seller just three years later for the aforementioned $959,000. Note that this week’s sale price of $180,000 is right in line with the county’s assessed value of $175,000.
For our next sale, we’ll head all the way over to Neptune Street on Indian Pass where this neat little 2-bedroom, 1 bath, 1,288 square foot home went under contract in June with a list price of just $169,900. Not really a gulf view home but still just a short stroll to the beach, and in this neighborhood federal flood insurance is available. This was an estate sale and unlike most home sales in our area was sold unfurnished. On Monday it sold for $135,000.
Now on to our four new contracts, starting with two developer lots under contract at Ovation, both good corner lots with terrific bay vews, and both in the coveted “X” flood zone. They’re listed attractively at $50,000 each, below the county’s assessed value of $65,000. There are still other “X” zone lots available here so if you’d like to pick one up, let me know.
Next up is a gulf front home about a half mile north of Scallop Cove which goes under contract with a list price of $405,900. This one may look familiar as it has been under contract before, last time in mid-June, but didn’t quite make it to closing. The sellers paid $510,000 for it in 2001, so depending on what the offer is, it may or may not be a short sale. They’ve been trying to sell it for some time having it on and off the market since the summer of 2005 when they initally listed it for $1.189M. It’s a 3-bedroom, 3 1/2 bath, 1,980 square foot home built in 2001. The county has it valued at $374,249 which is probably pretty close to what it will go for.
All of our new contract action this week was on the Cape, and our final contract is a gulf front lot in Clifton Beach, a small sub-division in the vicinity of Scallop Cove. This 50′ by 796′, 0.8 acre “X” zone property went under contact on Wednesday. This one’s another bubble market classic; it sold for $575,000 in October 2003, and those owners flipped it one year later in October 2004 for roughly twice that, $995,000. Those sellers got left holding the bag and have it under contract now with a list price of just $399,900. As rough as that sounds, that’s still more than twice what the county thinks it’s worth, with them having it assessed at just $175,000.
I have a New Listing Pick of the Week from our four new listings – there’s a lot to like about this well-maintained 2-bedroom, 2-bath 1,216 square foot townhouse at Barrier Dunes which enters the market as a short sale with a list price of $169,000. It’s located on Sandpine Drive, and from the master suite you have a pleasant view of the gulf. The living area and kitchen have been tiled. UPDATE – Aug. 3, 2011 – The MLS has been corrected to reflect that this home is NOT in the “X” zone as previously reported; it is in AE so your lender will require you to carry private flood while you have a mortgage on the home. Here is the view from the master bedroom.
There are also some great values among our eight price changes, but my Price Change Pick of the Week goes to this 66′ by 396″ gulf front lot at Indian Pass which has a large bluff overlooking beautiful St. Vincent Island. This is half of the lot located at 2484 Indian Pass Rd, MLS #241224, and the tax ID number is for the parent parcel. A minor replat will be recorded upon contract. The sellers lowered the price this week to $269,000 from $279,000, and will also sell the entire 132′ wide parcel for $575,000.
That’s a wrap for this week. As you can see, there is a lot going on and if you want to get in on the action and pick up one of these great values, let’s talk. Call or text me on my cell, 850-227-5197, or shoot me an email to [email protected] . I’ll be glad to help you with your shopping. I enjoy hearing from so many of my readers and helping them become beach owners. Thanks for taking time to stop by today and I hope you’ll come back again soon.