There was no let-up in Christmas shopping along the coast this week as we rang up an impressive seven sales and penned four new contracts, entered eight new listings and lowered the prices on three others. Our inventory remains virtually unchanged, closing the week down by only two at 287, with 88 homes and 199 lots listed for sale in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 Corridor market. We have a lot of territory to cover today so let’s get right to it.
Our next two sales are both in nearby Barrier Dunes, starting with a two bedroom 2 1/2 bath 1172 square foot townhouse that went under contract in mid-September with a list price of $129,000. The owners bought it in July 2007 for $149,000, and sold it this week for full list, $129,000.
The other Barrier Dunes sale was this 2-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath, 1,845 square foot townhouse which went under contract back in June as a short sale with a list price of $199,000. The sellers bought it back in mid 2005 for $440,000, basically quadruple the $111,900 it had sold for just 5 years earlier in late 1999. The lender finally approved this week’s sale and the property sold for $152,305.
We’ll head about 2 miles south down Cape San Blas Road for our next sale, a gulf view lot that went under contract in late October with a list price of $78,000. This quarter-acre X-zone lot sold for $195,000 in January 2004, and the current sellers bought it in March of 2005 for $470,000. On Friday, the new owners picked up the title for $52,000.
Our fifth sale was this contemporary 4-bedroom, 3 1/2-bath, 2,427 square foot bank-owned gulf front home on Clearwater Drive on the Cape which may look familiar if you’re a regular reader as it went under contract four different times until it was finally able to make it all the way down the aisle this week. This home last sold in June 2004 for $1.5M but ended up back with the bank who listed it for $550,000. On Tuesday they handed the keys to the proud new owners for $463,000.
Our sixth sale is a bank-owned first tier lot over in Gulf Pines located out along the C-30 Corridor. This quarter acre lot sold in February 2005 for $435,000, and those owners listed it five months later for $499,000 but never found a taker, and eventually lost it to the bank. The first tier lots in Gulf Pines have terrific water views and FEMA flood insurance eligibility so I think the county has this one also assessed too low at $60,000. In late October it went under contract with a list price of $90,000, and on Friday it closed for $78,500 cash. 
Our seventh and final sale is another first tier corner lot over in Treasure Shores, located just a few blocks east of Gulf Pines. The gulf views are awesome from this half-acre lot that measures 100′ by 249′. The sellers bought it in early 2003 for $260,000, listed it for $95,000, (though not as a short sale), and on Tuesday it went for $90,000 cash.
Down near the rocks at Stumphole, the first of our four new contracts is on a gulf front home, a 4-bedroom, 4 1/2 bath, 3,488 square foot model with 41′ of water frontage. In 2003 it sold for $900,000, and three years later, in January 2006, one of the owners sold an interest in the property for $907,500. It’s listed as a short sale for $479,000.
Our next contract takes us down to the south side of the Cape to Jubilation, where this bank-owned 46′ by 80′ gulf view lot went under contract on Thursday with a list price of just $40,000, pretty close to the county’s assessed value of $45,000. This lot last sold at the peak of the market in September 2004 for $280,000.
Our next new contract is on Louisiana Lane, just a few blocks east of Jubilation. This 43′ by 550′, roughly half-acre gulf front lot lies entirely seaward of the CCCL and is in a VE flood zone. The sellers have it listed for $139,000, not too far off of the $125,000 at which the county has it assessed. In 1996 they picked it up for $79,900, and put it on the market in mid-2007 asking $449,000.
Our fourth and final new contract is on this gorgeous 60′ wide gulf front lot on Sweetwater Drive at Money Bayou which went under contract on Thursday, Dec. 13 with a list price of $249,000, well above the county’s assessed value of $160,000. Ironically, this lot went under contract last Dec. 13 as well, but that obviously didn’t work out. The sellers have owned the property since mid-1999 when they bought it for $120,000, and first put it on the market in January 2008 with a $565,000 price tag.
Only nine more shopping days ’til Christmas, so if you have coastal paradise properties on your shopping list be sure to get in touch with me this week. Call or text me at 850-227-5197, or send me an email to [email protected]. In all the holiday hustle and bustle, with last minute shopping, decorating and wrapping gifts, be sure to take time to take note of the gifts you already have, your family, pets, and friends, and give them the gift of letting them know just how much they mean to you. Have fun, keep warm, and thanks so much for stopping by today.