Apparently I was right in suspecting we had a real-estate-buying spring break crowd this year as the breakers have all gone home now and our sales for the week have finally slowed down a bit compared to what we’ve been seeing lately. Nobody went to closing this week but we did manage three new contracts. A slew of new listings, twelve in all, and eight price changes. So our inventory takes a big leap, up eleven from last week, to 402, with 153 houses and 249 lots listed for sale in the MLS in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 market. Let’s start our review by seeing what buyers put under contract.
It turns out lots were the big attraction as all three of our contracts were for Cape San Blas lots, two of which are in Ovation. I’m surprised more of these haven’t gone under contact already since Ashwood announced those astounding price reductions back on March 23rd. The first is one of the gulf front lots reduced to $299,000 which is just a smidgen above the county’s assessed value of $282,000. By contrast, one of these gulf front lots sold in 2005 for $1.275M. This one’s scheduled to close by August 22.
The other Ovation contract is on this 57′ by 100′ one-third-acre bay view lot marked down to $50,000. Just amazing. This one’s in the “X” zone so no need for flood insurance. Very nice. The developer is also waiving the build out time so you can buy these and hold them now until you’re good and ready to build. This one’s also slated for an August closing.
Our third and final new contract is on another gulf front lot, this one about two miles south of Ovation on Cabana Lane in the San Dunes subdivision. This is a short sale on a 50′ by 431′ half acre property assessed at $350,000 and listed for $599,000. The sellers paid $750,000 for it in June 2004. San Dunes is a nicely done little community with some very attractive homes.
On to our twelve new listings and for my New Listing Pick of the Week I’m going to confess to non-impartiality in that I just love this first tier home on Cape San Blas that I listed on Wednesday. It’s a gorgeous 3,124 square foot, 4-bedroom, 4-bath show home built in 2005 by Charles House who did just the highest quality work. The gulf views are really good. Here’s a detailed description:
This first tier gulf view home is one of the most beautiful on Cape San Blas! The first level features the living area & kitchen w/quartz counters. 10′ ceilings add to the feeling of spaciousness. The living area opens to a 10′ by 28′ screened porch. Off this porch is an open sun deck w/a straight on water view. The 2nd floor features a 546 sf gulf front master suite & bath which opens onto another large gulf view covered deck. There is a bedroom w/private bath. The top floor also has a gulf front master suite w/bath. Being sold furnished – custom decorated w/premiere furnishings. Elevator. Ample parking & storage space for all your vehicles & water toys, including your boat & trailer. NO HOA fees to pay & in the X zone so flood insurance is NOT req. It’s one off the beach so you’ll save by not having to pay the higher gulf front tax level.
Finding a price change pick of the week is hard to do with those gulf and bay view Ovation lots ranging from $50,000 to $125,000 and figuring maybe $120 per square foot in average construction costs. With those numbers you could theoretically have a 2,000 square foot brand new home on a lot with gulf and bay views plus world class amenities for under $300,000. I’m not seeing anything that can beat that.
It’s been another full weekend here for me in the real estate biz which is why this is being posted on Sunday afternoon instead of Saturday morning. I enjoy hearing from so many of you, both buyers and sellers. I’ll be listing some more fine properties here in the coming week so be sure to check back. If you are considering selling, give me a call if you’d like a pricing report for your property and to learn about my marketing plan for your home or lot.
I hope you have a terrific week and look forward to hearing from you. Thanks for stopping by this afternoon.