The big news this week was the developer closeout sale at Ovation resulting in a huge chunk of inventory being moved off the active listings, drawing our overall inventory down by 7% to 344, 24 fewer than last week, leaving us with 99 homes and 245 lots listed for sale in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 Corridor market. We Cape Realtors have been seriously busy, closing seven sales, writing up a likely-never-to-be-surpassed 49 new contracts (45 in Ovation, 4 other properties elsewhere), adding seven new listings, and putting on five new price tags. Let’s see who got what since last we met.
The first of our seven sales is up by the state park at Sunset Pointe where this first tier quarter-acre lot that went under contract as a short sale with a list price of $129,900 way back in November 2010 finally sold, and for full price, right around the county’s assessment of $120,000. The sellers bought it in January 2005 for $700,000.
Our next sale is also in Sunset Pointe, this one a bank-owned, irregularly shaped 0.2 acre interior lot that went under contract with a list price of $29,900, well below the county’s assessed value of $50,000. Interesting sales history with this lot. The developer sold it in the summer of ’04 for $255,000 and those owners flipped it the following March for $375,000. It sold this week for $27,500, a sale of less than 8-cents on the dollar.
Just around the corner in Barrier Dunes, our third sale was this 2-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath, 1,216 townhouse which sold this week as a short sale for its full list price of $132,000, well below the county’s assessed value of $165,549. The seller bought it in November 2005 for $339,200. When it was built in 1999, the developer sold it for $119,000 which, in inflation-adjusted dollars, would be $158, 200 in today’s dollars, so this is another sale in the late 1990’s range.
About a half mile further south in the bay side of Peninsula Estates our next sale is a half-acre lot measuring 108′ by 200′ that sold for its full list price of $39,000; that’s vs. an asssessed value of $70,000. These sellers owned it since 1999 when they picked it up for $19,000 so they did ok. Peninsula Estates spans from the gulf to the bay and is one of the original subdivisions on the Cape, platted in the early 80′s, and each lot includes deeded gulf and bay access.
Our fifth sale is a bay-front beauty on Hibicus Lane by Rish Park; a 4-bedroom, 4-bath, 2,552 square foot home with a dock, built in the early 90′s. The original owners sold it in October 1998 for $310,000, and that buyer has had it on and off the market since mid-2006 when they initially listed it for $1.05M. It went under contract just two weeks ago with a far more modest list price of $549,500, well above the county’s assessed value of $376,783, and this week the parties closed for that full list price. There were no contingencies to be met, so that is why this one closed so quickly.
Our sixth sale is a classic gulf front beach house on Hartley Lane, just a little south of Rish Park. This is a great home in need of some TLC. She’s a big gal, 2,788 square feet with a spacious open layout and lovely furnishings throughout, with 3 bedrooms and 3 baths and a whole lot of wrap-around decks and porches, for a total square footage of 7,704. This one’s a short sale with a list price of $499,000, having last sold for $1.5M in the summer of ’04, and sold on Friday it went for $450,000, way below the county’s assessment of $613,993.
We’ve made it to our seventh and final sale, a bank-owned 75′ by 359′ lagoon front lot on Indian Pass listed for $75,000, well below its assessed value of $104,500. This little piece of paradise last sold in the summer of ’04 for $325,000, and this week some savvy buyer picked it up for $72,000.
Now onto our 54 new contracts of 45 Ovation lots and four other properties; I’m not going to go into detail on the individual Ovation lots – there was a little bit of everything, and from what I’ve been able to gather they’re pretty much going for full list price or above though we won’t know for sure til closing. Of the other four contracts, let’s start once again on the north end of Cape San Blas in Sunset Pointe, with a bank-owned first tier lot that sold in September 2004 for $535,000 and which went under contract this week with a list price of $111,000. As far a fall as that seems, it isn’t as low as the county’s estimate; they have it at $85,000.
A lot of interest all of a sudden in Sunset Pointe, and our second contract is one of the interior lots there, this one a short sale on Hemmingway listed for $29,000. Intresting history here in that it sold in March 2004 for $190,000 and was then flipped 15 months later in June 2005 for $440,000. The county currently has it at $50,000.
We’ll head down to the south side of the Cape for our next contract, another interior lot being sold as a short sale, this one in Jubilation. The seller paid $400,000 for it in December 2004, and now has a contract on it with a list price of $59,000, well in line with current comps, but way below the county’s assessment of $70,000.
Our fourth and final new contract is out along the C-30 Corridor on Money Bayou. It’s 2-bedroom, 2-1/2-bath, 1,140 square foot gulf front townhouse at Cape Villas that went under contract as a short sale with a list price of $180,000. In mid-1998 it sold for $120,000, and those owners basically doubled their money in just four years, selling it in early 2002 for $230,014 to the current owners. They’ve had it on the market since the summer of ’05 when they initially listed it for $475,000. The county has it valued at $153,609 which is probably pretty close to what I imagine it will likely go for.
Whew! What a week. Prices have gotten down to a point where I’m seeing competing buyers again, something we haven’t experienced with any frequency for a number years. I’ve had several properties recently where the sellers are finding themselves with a couple of offers from which to choose. That might be an indication that we’re starting to bounce off the market bottom at last. If you’re interested in buying before prices head back up, let’s get started. Call or text me at 850-227-5197 or send me an email to [email protected]. I was able to help a number of buyers this week get in on great deals in Ovation and elsewhere, and I’d love to help you too, secure your parcel in paradise here along the Forgotten Coast. Thanks for taking time to stop by today, and I hope to hear from you soon.