I think buyers have finally figured out that while weak dollars aren’t buying much groceries, gas, or gold these days, those dollars do have super strong buying power right now with real estate. Our recent trend of super-hot weeks continues as we closed another three sales, wrote eight more contracts, listed only ten properties and posted three new price tags. All that action had a healthy impact in our inventory, whittling it down by 13 or roughly 3 1/2% to close at 373, with 114 homes and 259 lots listed in our MLS for the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 Corridor market. Sit back and make yourself comfortable as we get underway taking a look at what buyers were in the mood for this week.
A noteworthy sign of the times is that all three of our sales this week were cash deals, the first of which is on Cape San Blas at Ovation where this steal of a deal came on the market in early April and went under contract almost immediately. It’s a bay first tier lot listed by the developer for a very attractive $125,000, well above the county’s assessed value of $71,500. Interesting aspect of this transaction is that the contract was for the full list price of $125,000 when it was penned, but when the developer subsequently lowered their prices on the other bay-side first tier lots, they accepted the new list price of $95,000 at closing for this lot. There were no contingencies to be met so not sure why the parties waited four months to close.
Our second sale was on a gulf front lot towards the southern end of the Cape and it’s a bit out of the ordinary; a 37′ wide piece zoned for construction of a duplex, which is about all you could fit into this foot print what with side setbacks being 9.5′each. I guess you could squeeze an 18′ wide shotgun-style home but that’s as wide as you could go. The sellers have owned it since 1984 when they bought the previously existing one side of a duplex there at the time, paying $95,500 for it. I forget which storm took the duplex out. They’ve been trying to sell this lot since the summer of ’07 when they listed it for $395,000. By the the time it went under contract three weeks ago that list was down to $139,900, well below the county’s assessment of $146,300, and on Friday it closed for $115,000.
For our third and final sale of the week we’ll head over to the Indian Pass peninsula where this 50′ wide by 400′ deep bank-owned gulf front lot went under contract in early July with a list price of $139,000, well below the county’s assessed value of $179,000. This property last sold in late 2004 for $640,000. Those owners applied for and received DEP permitting for building a home, and they put it back on the market in early 2006 for $829,000 but were never able to find a buyer. This week it found a new owner for $125,000 cash.
On to our eight new contracts, beginning as we so often do up in Barrier Dunes where this lake-front 2-bedroom, 2 1/2 bath, 1,140 square foot townhouse went under contract on Monday with a list price of $173,500. Built in 1985, the sellers have seriously renovated the interior, making such changes as replacing the carpet and vinyl in the main level living area with wood floors. When I first started in real estate in 1995, this was one of my first listings, and believe me, it looks a lot different today than it did sixteen years ago. The owners picked it up in early 2007 for $154,000. In May 2005, it sold for $350,000. The current assessed value is $137,563.
More action at Ovation as people step up to the plate to take advantage of the irresistably new low developer close-out sale prices on premium lots in this fine beach to bay community. My favorite lots, being the huge bay fan that I am, are the lots lining the crescent overlooking the verdant common area and beautiful St. Joe Bay. I thought these were a terrific value at $125,000 but when Ashwood dropped the prices recently to $95,000 they went straight to the top of the list of my favorite lots on the Cape. This week two savvy buyers wrote up contracts on lots 44 and 45 along this stretch. If you’ve been mulling over picking one of these beauties up I encourage you to make a move as there are only a few of these completely in the “X” zone still available. The county has these assessed at $71,500 but don’t dream of getting one at that price from the developer as they simply are not negotiating on the price and terms since they reduced them.
And the parade of bargains continues as we head about two miles south on the Cape to Ocean Haven where this road front gulf and bay view lot went under contract on Thursday as a short sale with a list price of $59,900, well below the county’s assessed value of $72,000. In November 2003 this 215′ by 65′ wide one-third acre “X” zone lot sold for $235,000. They’ve been trying to sell it since mid-2006 when they listed it for $385,000 but were never able to find any buyers and sadly are now facing a short sale.
Over on the C-30 Corridor near the old Treasure Bay Lodge, our next contract is on this 76′ by 218′, one-third acre bay view lot which went under contract on Monday as a short sale with a list price of $20,000. Here’s another bubble example: it sold in mid-2001 for $35,000, then again in early 2005 for $195,000, and finally in May 2006 for $300,000. I’m interested in seeing if this one closes below that low list price, because it also sold in 1994 for $9,600, which equals $14,622 in inflation-adjusted dollars so this would put the new comps for this stretch of the corridor in the mid-1990’s price range again.
From Treasure Bay we’ll head south along the Corridor about a mile or so to our next stop at Waters Edge, the first subdivision on your left after you turn right off of Cape San Blas Road heading towards Indian Pass. This one’s a bank-owned irregularly shaped roughly one-third acre lot that sold in June 2004 for $199,000. Times change and on Tuesday it went under contract with a stunningly low list price of $17,000, roughly half of the county’s assessed value of $32,000.
We wrap up our new contract marathon over near the tip of Indian Pass in the wonderfully eclectic Indian Pass Beach Subdivision where this great little gulf view home, with 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, and 1,368 square feet under heat and air went under contract less than a month after it was listed right at $289,000. The sellers have owned this since 1998 when they bought it for $129,000 which in inflation-adjusted dollars is way above the $137,000 value the county has it assessed for.
That’s a wrap for this week, as there are so many values among the ten new listings and three price changes there’s no way to pick out just one, so take a look at them all. If you’re interested in finding out more about these or any other properties, let me know by calling or texting me on my cell phone at 850-227-5197 or shoot me an email to [email protected] and I’ll be glad to help. Thanks so much for stopping by today and I hope to hear from you soon.