I hope everyone had an enjoyable Independence Day with friends and family. It was definitely one of the busiest tourism weeks I’ve seen in the past 25+ years at the beach over here on the not-so-Forgotten Coast. Now that we’ve turned the corner on 2024 with the first half in the books, let’s review a few statistics to add some perspective to our comparative market activity levels. So far in 2024 there have been a total of 90 real estate transactions recorded through our local MLS on all of Cape San Blas, Indian Pass, and 30-A corridor. This breaks down to a pretty even split of 46 home sales and 44 lot sales, which is about a 13% drop from the 104 transactions we saw in the first half of 2023. The average price of a residential sale in 2023 for the Cape, Indian Pass, and 30-A corridor was $1,016,322, and so far in 2024 the average residential sales price has been $1,075,892. This is consistent with national headlines which are reporting an overall cooling of home price gains so far this year in comparison to the previous 2 years. There was a bigger gain for vacant land in 2024 as the 2023 average was $302,033 while 2024 has seen an average vacant lot sales price of $406,011 to date. The sales volume is also fairly comparable with last year, as the 2024 comparative market sales have totaled $67,355,554, which is about 6% below the $71,562,050 volume for the first half of 2023. Most sellers and agents feel like this year is considerably slower than last year, and one big reason for this impression is the substantial jump in inventory levels in 2024, especially in the residential category. At the half-way point of 2023, there were 49 homes and 99 lots listed for sale on our MLS for all of Cape San Blas, Indian Pass, and the 30-A corridor. Last week’s update had our end of June totals at 139 homes and 119 lots for sale in the same market. Our relevant market absorption rate has just about doubled since this time last year thanks to the inventory spike and lack of increased activity. The average days on the market for homes has grown from 61 days in 2023 to 83 days so far in 2024, while vacant land has increased from 100 days last year to 122 days on the market in 2024. We’ve seen plenty of price reductions already this year with the increased competition between sellers, which explains why the original list price to sales price ratio has dropped to about 91% for homes (95% in 2023) and 88% for lots (92% in 2023). In summary, there are a lot more sellers in our market without a lot more buyers. Our values are still in good shape overall, but many sellers are assuming a higher level of appreciation and buyer demand which is no longer the case. Listings need to stand out as good value in order to sell in our current buyers’ market.
On to our Cape San Blas, Indian Pass, and CR 30-A corridor weekly update, where it was a shorter workweek with the Thursday holiday, as our market managed only 3 recorded sales and 1 new contract – details below:
- 4433 Ebbtide Lane – The first residential sale of the week comes from the north Cape in the San Blas Estates neighborhood. This 2 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom duplex is first tier to the Gulf (one behind Gulf front) and has 1,276 sq ft of furnished living space with a gross rental income of over $49K in 2023. The Gulf view duplex was built in 1985, and this half sits on a 30′ wide, 0.13 acre lot located in the X flood zone with deeded beach access. After 8 days on the market asking $650,000, this attached unit just sold for $625,000 with conventional financing, which is up from the $278,000 the sellers paid in 2014.
- 624 Seacliff Drive – This attached townhome is also located on the north Cape, closer to the St. Joseph Peninsula state park in the Seacliffs HOA. It’s a recently updated Gulf-view unit built in 2000 with 4 bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms, 1,944 sq ft of fully furnished living space and an elevator. The HOA offers a community pool, playground, and short walk to the deeded beach access boardwalk. This townhome was originally listed with an asking price of $699,000 which was reduced to $689,000, and after 84 total days on the market the listing sold for $665,000 cash, another gain for the sellers who paid $550,000 at the end of 2021.
- Lot 4A Cape San Blas Road – This vacant lot is zoned mixed use residential/commercial and is located on the north Cape in the Peninsula Estates neighborhood. The property measures 141′ wide on the road frontage and 0.55 acres total with distant Gulf and bay views possible with deeded beach and bay access. This listing was active on the MLS for 57 total days asking $289,700 initially and reduced down to $279,500 before going under contract and selling for $260,000 with seller financing. The sellers had owned this property since the year 2000 when they paid $58,000.
The one and only new contract executed in the past 7 days in our comparative market was on this bayfront residential property in a quiet neighborhood on the north Cape. 15 more listings reported reduced asking prices this week, while 8 of the new construction spec homes in the Redfish Cove north Cape neighborhood increased asking prices by marginal amounts (these same Truland Homes reduced their asking prices last week). The end of June also delivered 7 expired listings no longer on the active MLS.
5 residential listings and 2 vacant lot listings were added to our relevant market inventory this holiday week, keeping our inventory levels steady and consistent so far this summer season. Residential inventory is down 1 this week to 138 homes for sale, while the vacant land inventory is unchanged at 119 lots available on all of Cape San Blas, Indian Pass, and the CR/SR 30-A corridor. Stay as cool as possible, and let me know anytime I can help with your real estate needs, [email protected] or (850)899-8765.
